Why were the tragic events of January 2022 in Kazakhstan followed with excitement throughout the world and especially by its closest neighbors - Russia and China? An economically successful and oil-rich country, it is a pillar of political and economic stability in a strategically important but explosive region. Kazakhstan is the largest state in Central Asia. And in the post-Soviet space it is the second in territory and third in population. In those days, the fate of the country depended on one person. From President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Those who started all this assumed that the president would give in, get scared, and maybe even leave the country. And they were very wrong about it. He could not leave his country. And he did everything to save her. Discontent caused by rising fuel prices unexpectedly grew into a large-scale political protest, and then into terrorist actions, into an anti-state conspiracy... But much is still unclear. About what happened in January 2022 and a new book by Leonid Mlechin, who visited the scene of the events, tells about today’s Kazakhstan, which is Russia’s neighbor, partner and ally.