Developments in Kazakhstan have evolved rapidly since demonstrations began on January 2. Under pressure from nationwide protests, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dismissed the cabinet and removed Nursultan Nazarbayev from his lifetime post as chairman of the National Security Council on January 5. By that evening, it appeared as though protesters had taken complete control of Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty. But the military soon returned to the city and launched an "anti-terrorist operation." According to official reports, by the morning of January 6, dozens of protesters had died and police had arrested around 2,000 people. In a dispatch for Meduza, local journalist Aysulu Toyshibekova offers an eyewitness account from the streets of Almaty.