With Almaty, Kazakhstan in the news recently because of protests [1] , I thought this part was interesting
> Igor came from humble beginnings. The son of a military officer, he was born in a small town in Kazakhstan (then a Soviet republic). His family moved to the capital Almaty when he was a year old.
All the soviet republics are former imperial Russia territories and have substantial russian minorities. Of course, Russia would never admit doing colonization like its western counterparts, but just spreading culture and civilization around.
> Igor came from humble beginnings. The son of a military officer, he was born in a small town in Kazakhstan (then a Soviet republic). His family moved to the capital Almaty when he was a year old.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59927267