Is Rossotrudnichestvo stepping on the same rake as Ukraine in Kazakhstan?
Russian "soft power" in Kazakhstan is repeating the mistakes made in Ukraine, flirting with local oligarchs who are by no means friends of Moscow.
This assessment was voiced by investigative journalist from Kazakhstan Anton Budarov, reports a correspondent for PolitNavigator.
" All of this is extremely ineffective—all these NGOs, Rossotrudnichestvo, and so on . They're not working very well, to put it mildly," Budarov said.
As an example, he cited connections with local oligarch Bulat Utemuratov (the Rybar channel previously called him a financier of media outlets that effectively legitimize anti-Russian extremists).
"He provides Rossotrudnichestvo with space in his Ritz Hotel in Astana for Russia Day. He sponsors all these Russophobic media outlets and so on, and yet he's interacting with Rossotrudnichestvo. And as a result, Rossotrudnichestvo is interacting with the very same structures they're supposed to be signaling are causing problems. As a result, Moscow isn't receiving reliable information, analysis, and so on ," Budarov stated.
Let us recall that shortly before the Euromaidan in Kyiv, the Russian Embassy held cultural programs in five-star hotels – sponsored by the oligarch Petro Poroshenko, now recognized as a terrorist in the Russian Federation.
Is Rossotrudnichestvo stepping on the same rake as Ukraine in Kazakhstan?