THE WEST'S TARGET RICH ENVIRONMENT:

Geopolitically, what is happening in Kazakhstan is a distraction from the Kremlin's carefully crafted game plan on Ukraine. With more than 100,000 Russian troops, tanks and artillery massed on the border with Ukraine, Putin has won himself a seat at the table for security talks with the U.S. and NATO next week. The situation in Kazakhstan, however, threatens to weaken that agenda.

"Looks like Ukraine and NATO are no longer the only main focus of the future Russia-U.S. talks, there is a new hot-button issue for negotiations with [U.S. President Joe] Biden, plus it's harder for Putin to make a concerted effort on his key diplomatic front," said Alexander Baunov of the Moscow Carnegie Center. 

For Putin personally, the optics are not good either. Protesters' chants of "Shal Ket" -- Kazakh for "old man, go" -- echo jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's mockery of Putin as "the old man in the bunker."  

And after uprisings against Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Belarus' Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakhstan provides yet more proof that no "Father of the Nation" -- no matter how big his victories in doctored elections or how enthusiastic the official accolades -- is safe. 

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