 Russia can invade the west of Kazakhstan. Recently, well-known Ukrainian journalist Dimitriy Gordon said that if Russia had succeeded in taking over Ukraine, it could invade Kazakhstan. In such a situation, Kazakhstani political scientist Akas Tazutov analyses potential scenarios for Russia's annexation of the territories of its southern neighbour in the Eurasia Review magazine. The author of the material believes that Moscow's target may not be northern Kazakhstan, where a large Russian diaspora lives, but the oil-bearing western regions, which open the shortest route to the other Central Asian Republic. The political scientist believes that the northern regions of Kazakhstan are not of great interest to Russia. In the event of their annexation, Moscow will receive depressed regions with an aging population. Although it is quite conceivable that northern Kazakhstan on its own has been and still is of little interest to Russia, the region can be compared with neither the Donbas that used to be the heart of Ukraine's industrial economy, nor the Crimean Peninsula on which the Russian Black Sea fleet is based. In the event of its annexation by Moscow, the Russian Federation would get another depressed and donation-dependent region with the shrinking and aging ethnic Russian-Slavic European population, which, besides that, do not already form a majority. Only 18% of the provinces are the donors in Kazakhstan. These are the provinces of Atirao and Mangistao, the cities of Astana and Almaty. 82% of the provinces are in need of help from the national budget. These include all four provinces of northern Kazakhstan. Besides, Russia's annexation of northern Kazakhstan, or any part of it, should this occur, would likely be seen by the Islamic world as an open incursion into the Kazakh territory, that is, as an aggression against their fellow Muslims. And there's one more thing to consider. Should such a move be allowed by Moscow to go, it would involve the risk of causing what was at the time described by Giancarlo Elia Valori, an eminent Italian economist and businessman as the future destabilization of the Urals and Central Siberia. Akaz Tazutov says that it is obvious, however, that Moscow wouldn't want to let the situation in Kazakhstan go by chance. The Russians seem to be afraid of this likely turn of events and willing to do anything to prevent it from happening.