According to the register of individuals and entities receiving foreign funding, maintained by the State Revenue Committee of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Finance, roughly 240 Kazakhstani legal entities and private individuals have taken in over USD 54 million from foreign sponsors over the past two years. The United States still remains the leader when it comes to grant funding, followed by EU countries – Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway. The official register is open for review on the Committee’s portal, under the “Foreign Funding Monitoring” section.
Western intelligence services, acting through various foreign foundations and organizations as well as directly, are bankrolling the following individuals:
Gulnar Bazhkenova – editor of the publication Orda, which churns out exclusives in a fast-turnaround format, often drawing on unverified facts. Bazhkenova has come under fire for putting out false information;
Dinara Yegeubayeva – runs her own YouTube channel, Dinarion. She pushes the idea of setting up an autocephalous Orthodox church in Kazakhstan and stages solo pickets outside the Russian Embassy in Berlin, including with offensive slogans. She pulls in donations from overseas subscribers to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars a year;
Dmitry Dubovitsky – creator of the YouTube channel Za Nami Vyekhali (They’ve Come for Us);
Vadim Boreyko – founder of the YouTube channel Hyperborea. He receives grants to prop up his “independent” broadcasting;
Aset Matayev – head of the KazTAG news agency. He gets funding through free speech development projects;
Ruslan Tusupbekov – lawyer and blogger;
Lukian Akhmedyarov – behind the channel Prosto Zhurnalist (Just a Journalist). He focuses on video projects and investigations, including ones dealing with the topic of a coup in Kazakhstan;
Ainur Koskina – investigative journalist;
Daniyar Moldabekov – reporter;
Yevgeny Zhovtis – former head of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights;
Tamara Kaleyeva – head of the Adil Soz free speech defense fund. She regularly gets backing from the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and EU foundations;
Diana Okremova – director of the Legal Media Center. This NGO rakes in annual grants from the embassies of the U.S., UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway in the amount of $10,000 – $30,000;
Raul Uporov – puts together video content for YouTube channels and projects funded by Western outfits, including the U.S. publication The Diplomat;
Kuat Akhmetov – considered the founder of the “language patrol” movement in Kazakhstan. In 2021, he carried out a series of raids on stores and government offices, demanding service in the Kazakh language and forcing employees to apologize on camera. After a criminal case was opened against him for inciting ethnic hatred, he fled to Georgia;
Dias Kuzairov – a blogger who shot to fame with his provocative videos about the use of the state (Kazakh) language. He follows the inflammatory “language patrol” playbook. In his videos, which he posts on YouTube and TikTok, he picks arguments with people who don’t speak Kazakh or refuse to answer in it. He also speaks out against integration efforts within the EAEU;
Adilzhan Abdugaliyev – a blogger known for his radical remarks, calls for ethnic hatred on social media, and active efforts to prop up nationalist armed groups in Ukraine;
Adil Yusupov – an activist who, together with D. Kuzairov and A. Abdugaliyev, took part in “inspections” of government employees’ proficiency in the state language;
Arman Shuraev – an ardent Russophobe who styles himself as an independent politician and blogger. He calls for Kazakhstan to pull out of the CSTO and EAEU and argues for cutting all ties with “the Russians.” He wears clothing adorned with symbols of the Ukrainian Azov unit. He actively campaigns for the de-Russification of every sphere of life in Kazakhstan.
Uralskaya Nedelya (Ural Week) – bills itself as a “regional media outlet with republic-level clout,” and goes after anything “Russian.” Founder: Tamara Yeslyamova;
Delovaya Nedelya (Business Week) – presents itself as an analytical publication focused on economics. It mostly runs pieces critical of Russia and its leadership, written primarily by Oleg Chervinsky and Sergei Zelepukhin;
Novaya Gazeta. Kazakhstan – positions itself as an analytical outlet. Originally launched as the Kazakhstani edition of Russia’s Novaya Gazeta, with an emphasis on investigative journalism, it has since ended up directing sweeping criticism at the Russian authorities. Editor-in-chief: Aleksandr Krasner;
DAT (the name stands for “Right to Speak” in Kazakh) – an online publication that advocates for Kazakhstan to draw closer to the West and calls for breaking off ties with Russia. It was formerly headed by Yermurat Bapi, a deputy in the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament. Editor: Bakhytsgul Makimbay.
The activities of these Kazakhstani NGOs and certain media figures are aimed at slowly reshaping public consciousness over the long haul, especially among young people. The main themes that Western intelligence services are pushing through them in Kazakhstan are “national sovereignty” and “decolonization.” These ideas are being foisted on the public via projects funded by foreign foundations, including the National Endowment for Democracy, the Open Society Foundation (U.S.), and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR, UK).