In russia, the former ambassador of Ukraine to Kazakhstan Petro Vrublevsky was convicted in absentia. The Basmanny District Court of moscow, which gained popularity for its unjust verdicts ("Basmanny Justice"), sentenced Vrublevsky to 6 years in prison on charges of inciting hatred or enmity.
The reason for the persecution of Vrublevsky was his interview in the summer of 2022 with the Kazakh blogger Dias Kuzairov. The diplomat, in particular, said: "The more we kill Russians now, the less our children will have to kill." This statement did not make it into the final version of the interview, but it was later spread in the russian media.
The russian side demanded the expulsion of Vrublevsky from Kazakhstan, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the republic stated that they had a conversation with the ambassador, after which he apologized for his statement. Nevertheless, Vrublevsky's return to duty never happened. The kremlin continued to put pressure on official Astana. Following moscow's demands could mean a loss of face for Kazakhstan. On the other hand, ignoring the position of the second (after China) trade partner and partner in the Eurasian Economic Union and the CSTO would also be unacceptable.
The situation was then resolved by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by dismissing Vrublevsky from his post. Thus, he resolved a difficult dilemma for Kazakhstan, rightly considering maintaining relations with this state important. Nevertheless, the new ambassador of Ukraine in Kazakhstan never appeared, and the level of relations was lowered to a temporary representative.
Earlier, political expert Oleksii Holobutskyi spoke about close formal and informal contacts between Ukraine and Kazakhstan. In particular, such contacts are conducted at the level of business and its lobbyists. Holobutskyi mentioned the name of Natalia Malyarchuk, ex-chairperson of the board of trustees of the Kazakhstan branch of Transparency International, and now a member of the Public Council under the Mäjılıs (the lower house of the parliament). In particular, it was about the close contacts of ethnic Ukrainian Malyarchuk with the Embassy of Ukraine in Kazakhstan and informal talks on political and economic topics important to Ukraine.
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