Russian troops leave Kazakhstan as state of emergency ends

A Russia-led military contingent completed its withdrawal from Kazakhstan as the country lifted a state of emergency Wednesday after unprecedented unrest in the Central Asian state.

The Russian defense ministry said that four military planes carrying its last remaining troops had departed from the capital Nur-Sultan and Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty.

“The last units of the peacekeepers and the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent headed by Colonel General Andrei Serdyukov will return home on these planes,” it said, according to Russian news agencies.

Images published by the Russian defense ministry showed military airplanes landing at an airport in the southern Russian city of Ulyanovsk, where a ceremony was held to mark the troops’ return.