Kazakhstans MFA not involved in setting up of traditional yurt in Ukrainian Bucha

Kazakhstan's ministry of foreign affairs clarified that its Embassy in Ukraine has not been involved in the setting up of a traditional Kazakh yurt (nomadic tent) in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. 

According to Kommersant, the ministry's representative Aybek Smadiyarov made this statement following the Russian diplomatic spokesperson Maria Zakahrova's response to the structure which has been named "the yurt of invincibility", which is regarded to be a reference to the discovery of mass killings of the civilian population of Bucha during the temporary occupation by the Russian armed forces. 

Zakharova stated, that the Russian diplomatic corpus brought this incident to the attention of their Kazakh colleagues, which replied by saying that the setting up of the yurt was a private initiative by Kazakh patrons, which is why the ministry in Astana can "neither comment nor prohibit" it. Smadiyarov further clarified, that the Kazakh Embassy in Kyiv was not involved in it. 

"There is a Kazakh diaspora in Ukraine. They talk among each other, there are inter-cultural marriages, friends, and relatives. One nation is helping another nation, there is no problem in that, this is natural", he stated, further recalling, that around 300,000 Ukrainians reside in Kazakhstan. 

The diplomatic debacle started when the City Council of Bucha published on January 9 on their website a post on the opening of the "yurt of invincibility" and expressed their gratitude to the Kazakh Embassy in Ukraine for their involvement.