Kazakhstan struggles to accommodate Russians fleeing war

27/9/2022 19:12

        Kazakhstan is struggling to accommodate tens of thousands of Russians who have fled their homeland since Moscow announced a military mobilisation last
        week, officials say, but the Almaty government has no plans to close its border.
        
        Russian men, some with families, started crossing the world's second-longest land border en masse after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the mobilisation of reservists last week amid a stalled military campaign in Ukraine.
        
        Russians do not need a visa or even a passport to enter Kazakhstan, just their Russian identity papers. The Russian language is also widely spoken in the country, which is home to a large ethnic Russian minority.
        
        However, the sudden influx of Russians - the government says almost 100,000 have crossed the border since the mobilisation announcement - has stretched the infrastructure of the vast but sparsely populated nation. Hotels and hostels are full, and rent has skyrocketed.