Operator ArcelorMittal Temirtau, the local unit of Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal (MT.LU), said 206 of 252 people at the Kostenko mine had been evacuated after what appeared to be a methane blast.

It said 18 people had sought medical attention.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who expressed condolences to the victims’ families and declared a national day of mourning on Oct. 29, ordered his cabinet to stop investment cooperation with ArcelorMittal Temirtau.

The company said it had suspended operation of coal unit mines for 24 hours for gas protection checks. The government and company also confirmed they were working to finalise a deal to nationalise the company, which operates the country’s biggest steel mill.

“ArcelorMittal can also confirm, as communicated earlier today by the government of Kazakhstan, that the two parties have been in discussions concerning the future of ArcelorMittal Temirtau and recently signed a preliminary agreement for a transaction that will transfer ownership to the Republic of Kazakhstan,” the miner said.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

“ArcelorMittal is committed to completing this transaction as soon as possible in order to minimise disruption to the greatest extent possible.”

Last month First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar told reporters that Kazakhstan was in talks with potential investors who could take over the mill.

He said the cabinet was unhappy with ArcelorMittal’s failure to meet its investment obligations, upgrade equipment and ensure worker safety after a series of deadly accidents.

Of the 252 people at the Kostenko mine, 208 had been evacuated, with 18 seeking medical help, the company said in a statement. Some 23 people had not been located by 12 p.m. (0600 GMT).

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who expressed condolences to victims’ families, ordered his cabinet to stop investment cooperation with ArcelorMittal Temirtau.

The government said in a statement that it was finalising a deal to nationalise the company, which operates the country’s biggest steel mill.

Last month First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar told reporters that Kazakhstan was in talks with potential investors who could take over the mill.

He said the cabinet was unhappy with ArcelorMittal’s failure to meet its investment obligations, upgrade equipment and ensure worker safety after a series of deadly accidents.

The fire broke out at the mine in Kazakhstan’s Karaganda region on Thursday. One miner is still missing.

Kazakhstan’s authorities have started an investigation into the incident but have not yet given any information on the cause of the fire.

ArcelorMittal Temirtau owns 15 coal and iron ore mines in Kazakhstan and an integrated steel plant.

Efforts to contain the fire, which broke out on Thursday, and to restore normal ventilation are under way, ArcelorMittal Temirtau, which represents the firm in Kazakhstan, said in a statement.

ArcelorMittal Temirtau owns 15 coal and ore mines in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic bordering Russia, is home to over 3 million ethnic Russians and has traditionally been one of Russia’s closest allies. The Astana government, however, has not supported what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, and has called for peace.

Clearly targeting Kazakhs, ads seen by Reuters feature Russian and Kazakh flags and the slogan “Shoulder to shoulder”. They promise a one-off payment of 495,000 Russian roubles ($5,300) to those who sign a contract with the Russian military, along with a monthly salary of at least 190,000 roubles ($2,000) and undisclosed extra benefits.

The ads lead to a website that offers potential recruits a chance to join the Russian army in the Sakhalin region in Russia’s Far East. The website lists its owner as the Human Capital Development Agency of the Sakhalin region, an organisation set up by the local government.

Its call centre operators said they could not comment on the ad placement, and the organisation did not reply to emailed questions. Joining military conflicts abroad for pay is illegal under Kazakh law.

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Information and Social Development did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the ads.

Residents of other ex-Soviet Central Asian nations told Reuters some of their compatriots had joined either the Russian army or Russian private mercenary groups such as Wagner, but recruitment usually took place in Russia, where millions of Uzbeks, Tajiks and Kyrgyz migrant labourers work.

“A former husband of my sister died in Lysychansk last October,” a resident of Tajikistan told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. “One of my nephews joined the Wagner group after being in a Russian prison.”

In Kyrgyzstan, a local man was sentenced to 10 years in prison in May for joining Russian proxy forces in Ukraine’s Luhansk region. The Russian foreign ministry said this week it was considering a request by a Russian politician to grant the man Russian citizenship so that Moscow could pressure Bishkek to set him free and allow him to return to Russia.

There are far fewer Kazakh migrant labourers abroad due to the country’s oil-based wealth, although construction jobs in Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine are also advertised on Kazakh classified websites.

Kazakhstan detained Nikita Kislitsin, an employee of Russian cybersecurity firm F.A.C.C.T., when he was visiting the country on June 22 and Russia responded by quickly filing its own extradition request for him to compete with one from Washington.

The case could further strain relations between traditional allies Astana and Moscow which have become tense due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Kazakhstan’s refusal to support what Moscow calls its “special military operation” there.

On Tuesday, Russia’s Kommersant daily cited the Russian consulate in Kazakhstan as saying Astana has decided to hand over Kislitsin to Russia.

However, Duisembai Darkhan, a spokesman for the Kazakh Prosecutor General’s office, told Reuters no such decision has been made, and a local court has only ruled to place Kislitsin under arrest pending extradition.

He said prosecutors would decide on where to extradite Kislitsin after studying the case more closely.

Nikita Kislitsin, an employee of Russian cybersecurity firm F.A.C.C.T., was detained on June 22 and Kazakh authorities are considering Washington’s extradition request, the company said in a statement.

It said the accusations against Kislitsin, which it did not spell out, stemmed from his time as a journalist and independent researcher. It gave no further details.

Reuters was not able to contact Kislitsin or his representatives.

On Wednesday, F.A.C.C.T. said, it became aware that Kislitsin, a former editor-in-chief of Russian magazine “Hacker”, was also wanted in Russia.

Separately, Russia’s Vedomosti newspaper said Moscow court arrested Kislitsin in absentia on charges of unauthorised access to digital information, and that Russia would seek his extradition.

Russia’s RIA news agency quoted the Russian consulate in Kazakhstan as saying it had asked Astana not to rush through Kislitsin’s extradition to the United States.

F.A.C.C.T. was spun off from Singapore-based cybersecurity firm Group-IB, which said on Wednesday it was not involved in any way with the investigation.

Police in Kazakhstan, where Wednesday was a public holiday, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Moscow (AP) — Kazakhstan said Wednesday it will stop hosting talks aimed at resolving Syria’s 12-year-old conflict. The abrupt announcement surprised Russia and other participants as they wrapped up the 20th round of talks in the capital of Astana.

Since 2017, the former Soviet republic has provided a venue for talks to representatives of Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran on ways to resolve the Syrian war.

Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry said the talks have fulfilled their mission and that “the initial goals, including the creation of de-escalation zones, ending the bloodshed and reducing the number of casualties have been fully implemented.”

The ministry’s spokesman, Aibek Smadiyarov, cited Syria’s recent return to the Arab League and efforts to restore ties with Turkey as proof that the Astana talks achieved their purpose.

But Alexander Lavrentyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy to Syria who led Moscow’s delegation at the talks, said Kazakhstan’s decision was a complete surprise and an unexpected move.

Lavrentyev said that no decision was made about a new venue for future talks later this year, but suggested they could be held in Moscow, Ankara, Tehran, or even Damascus.

This week’s talks in Astana followed an improvement in ties between Syria and some Arab countries that once backed Syrian opposition groups fighting against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.

Lavrentyev said Syria’s return to the Arab League during the May summit in Saudi Arabia was an “important step” towards ending the conflict.

Representatives from the United Nations and Syria’s neighbors — Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq — attended the Astana talks as observers and expressed hope for a swift end to the conflict and the return home of millions of refugees living in their countries.

Turkey, Russia and Iran described the latest talks in Astana as “constructive” and said they discussed “preparing the roadmap for the restoration of relations between Turkey and Syria.”

Moscow and Tehran have backed Assad’s government in the war and helped his forces reclaim control over most of the country. Even with the bulk of Russia’s armed forces fighting in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained its military foothold in Syria and has also made persistent efforts to help Assad rebuild fractured ties with Turkey and other countries in the region.

Turkey has had troops in northwestern Syria backing opposition fighters in the last rebel-held enclave. On Tuesday, Syria’s assistant foreign minister, Ayman Sousan, said Turkey should come up with a “clear timeline” for the withdrawal of its forces from Syria.

In May, after Syria was readmitted to the Arab League, Turkey and Syria’s foreign ministers agreed to set up a “roadmap” to improve strained ties. It marked the highest-level contact between the two countries since the 2011 start of the uprising turned civil war.

The war in Syria has killed nearly 500,000 people and displaced half of the country’s prewar population of 23 million.

Hours after the Astana meeting ended, residents and a war monitor reported that Syrian government forces shelled an opposition-held town in Aleppo province, killing at least three people, including a child.

Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the shelling also targeted other towns nearby controlled by the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al Sham group. Syrian state media did not report on the shelling.

Protests over fuel price increases last year quickly turned into the deadliest bout of political violence in oil-rich Kazakhstan’s history, with 238 people dying in clashes and local government buildings in several cities coming under attack.

Karim Masimov, 57, a former prime minister who headed state security at the time, was accused of being among the leaders of a group that plotted the coup, although Kazakh authorities have not said who planned to ultimately take over as president.

Masimov’s trial was held behind closed doors and it was not clear whether he had pleaded guilty.

A number of other officials, including Kazakhstan’s defence minister at the time, have been tried for either failing to act or sabotaging the work of security forces during the 2022 unrest.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin both described the unrest as a foreign-backed terrorist uprising. Putin sent troops to help restore order in the large Central Asian nation that borders Russia.

Masimov was formerly a close associate of veteran Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev who resigned in 2019.