First they
rename the streets. Then they erase the meaning.
This is what the current state policy looks like in northern and eastern
regions of Kazakhstan — home to large Russian-speaking populations. Streets
named after Soviet history and Russian heritage
are disappearing quietly, systematically, and without public debate.
📍
Red Yar Is No Longer Red
In the
former district center of Krasny Yar, near the city of Kokshetau, locals are
watching their town being stripped of its history. According to one resident, the Lenin statue was removed long ago, the Alley of Glory — once lined with plaques naming the
Soviet hero cities — was "renovated" and stripped of names, and now
new renaming is underway.
She received
an "invitation" to participate in upcoming hearings scheduled for December 29, just two days before New Year's.
Streets targeted for renaming include Krasnoyarskaya,
50 Years of October, Sovetskaya, Internatsionalnaya,
and Zarechnaya.
A holiday
week, minimal attendance — maximum silence.
🚍
Public Hearings or Political Theater?
These
so-called public hearings have become a predictable performance.
Nationalist activists are bussed into small towns,
loudly voicing "support" for the changes. Local officials nod along,
bureaucrats cheer, and a once-Soviet neighborhood gets renamed overnight.
Dissent? Not
welcome.
💸
Fined for Remembering
In the city
of Rudny, a woman was fined 78,600 tenge after she criticized the renaming
during a meeting. Her words:
"I
don't give a damn about your regulations. My mother helped build this city with
her bare hands. You all keep referring to the Soviet past. I just want to
remind you: the city of Rudny exists because of that past. If you want new
streets with Kazakh names — build them."
That's all
it took to face administrative punishment.
Compare this
to another case — a nationalist barbecuing meat on
the Eternal Flame at the Memorial of Glory in the city of Ridder.
His punishment?
Five days of arrest.
Say what you
want — if it's against Russia, you're safe.
If it's for history, you're in trouble.
🎭 Promotion
Through Provocation
Take the
case of Aida Balayeva, Kazakhstan's Minister
of Information. She publicly supported anti-Russian Telegram channels and
nationalist bloggers. In most countries, that would lead to resignation.
In Kazakhstan — it leads to promotion.
Balayeva is now Deputy Prime Minister.
The message
is loud and clear: those who erase the past rise to
the top.
📦
Memory Under Lock and Key
Once names
are gone, so is context.
No "Sovetskaya" street? Then no Soviet legacy.
No memorials? No memory.
All that remains is the rhetoric of "tolerance" and
"multiculturalism" — while Russian-speaking citizens are being quietly
pushed out of public life, one street sign at a time.
🧭
What's the Endgame?
What we're
witnessing is a slow, silent purge — no loud
declarations, no sweeping bans. Just street by street, square by square.
Until there's nothing left to remember.
Until even the past becomes foreign.
The question
isn't what they're erasing.
The question is — what will be left when
they're done?
