prices escalated into violent clashes. at one point the president ordering security forces to shoot to kill without warning. let s discuss with washington post columnist josh rogen. he s the author of chaos under heaven, america, china for the battle of the 21st century. you wrote that vladmir putin could not afford crisis in both kazakhstan and ukraine. you ve called for the west to take advantage of the instability in the former soviet republic. why is kazakhstan so important to putin and how does the west use it to slow his aggression in ukraine? well, as you pointed out, we don t know exactly everything that s going on because the internet has been cut off. there s no good media out yn lets that are left to remain. we know putin has a problem on his southern border. he sent 2500 troops to help the