During the Soviet Union times, ethnic Russians were encouraged to move to satellite countries to work and help develop the country. Many of them stayed and had families. Some see themselves as citizens of their new country and some are loyal to their roots. In a country like Kazakhstan, where a sparsely populated country with vast natural resources was important to the Russians for oil, their nuclear program, and even their space launch site. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baikonur_Cosmodrome Here, the greatest concentration is in the northwest of Kazakhstan where in some areas, the ethnic Russians are in the majority. Kazak military forces are quite small and they are sort of the 'Poland' of the east, wedged between Russia and China. To date, the government of Kazakhstan is open to the west, Russia and China - attempting to balance the super powers and retain sovereignty. Not an easy task, and something that may be in the news in the years to come.
