Kazakhstan was one of the countries that voted for Russia’s takeover of Crimea.
Russia has a massive presence in Kazakhstan, including the Balkinor Cosmodrome and various testing ranges, as well as military bases. Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Russia are founding members of the Eurasian union and Commonwealth of “independent” states, and Russia and Kazakhstan are members of the Shanghai Cooperative Organization
Ha, ha. Not to mention that about 50% of the retired Russian/Soviet military live in Almaty. That city is basically “company” town, complete with Officers club, clubs for retired non-coms, etc. Almaty is basically the Kazach version of Switzerland.