The number of Kazakhs who believe Russia might invade the former Soviet republic has doubled in the past six months as the war in Ukraine continues, according to a poll by Kazakh researchers on Wednesday.

The Central Asian nation of 20 million has close historical, economic and security ties to Moscow, but remains neutral in the conflict in Ukraine, refusing to recognize Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions.

According to a survey of 1,100 respondents conducted May 3-12 by non-governmental organizations MediaNet and PaperLab, almost 60% are also neutral about the war, 12.8% support Russia and 21.1% support Ukraine, which is similar to the previous similar poll. December.

However, the number of those who believe Russia might invade Kazakhstan also rose to 15%, up from 8.3% in the previous poll.

Almost a third of respondents said their perception of Russia had worsened because of the war, more than half said it had not changed, and only 4.7% said it had improved.

Kazakhstan is home to approximately 3 million ethnic Russians and has the world’s longest continuous land border with Russia.

Astana also has close ties to China, another giant neighbor, and the West, which has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in its oil and gas industry.

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