DISINFO: Western-funded NGOs instil hostility between Kazakhstan and Russia
SUMMARY
Powerful external forces aim to turn Astana into a problem for the Kremlin. There is a vast network of Western-funded NGOs whose sole mission is to instil hostility between Kazakhstan and Russia by any means available. While Trump's decree and 90-day USAID activities audit has paused many U.S.-funded NGO activities in Kazakhstan, EU- and UK-backed organisations continue their work. Meanwhile, Western media like 'Radio Azattyq' actively contribute to worsening Kazakhstan-Russia relations.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that NGOs receiving grants from Western institutions are attempting to separate former Soviet countries from Russia. This claim is made in the context of the Trump Administration’s plans to pause or close USAID and targets NGOs funded by the EU and the UK.
The allegations are baseless and not backed by any evidence and are connected to a long-standing pro-Kremlin stance that frames political opposition, independent media and civil society organisations as Western Trojan horses and “foreign agents”. This narrative has been applied to NGOs in Kazakhstan, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine, amongst others.
Radio Azattyq, particularly targeted in this case, is Radio Free Europe's Kazakh Service, operating out of bureaus in Almaty and Astana and reporting in Kazakh and Russian. Radio Free Europe is a frequent target of pro-Kremlin disinformation.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database such as claims that the EU uses the CIS to contain Russia by all means: financial, economic, and military; that US-sponsored Kazakhstan protests aimed to undermine CIS stability, that protests in Kazakhstan are a new Western attempt to organise a colour revolution, that events in Kazakhstan are another Western-made colour revolution or that EU and US aim to generate a new wave of anti-government protests in Belarus.