Oskemen Residents Gather Despite Canceled Time Zone Protest

On the evening of November 5, several dozen residents gathered near the House of Friendship in Oskemen to find out whether the previously announced rally demanding the return of East Kazakhstan’s former time zone would take place, Orda.kz reports.

The protest’s organizer, local resident Leonid Kartashev, had been seeking permission to hold a peaceful assembly since the fall of 2024. A year later, authorities finally approved it for November 5, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., on Nazarbayev Avenue.

However, he later refused to hold the rally under those conditions, arguing that the time and location should be agreed upon with residents.

Some Oskemen residents, unaware of the cancellation, still came to the square. They said there was no official notice on the akimat’s website, so they decided to check in person.

The news reported there would be a rally. But I couldn’t find any information about it being cancelled. That’s why we came to march. We’re concerned about this time change — it’s affecting our bodies. In a month, residents will want to sleep at 3:00 p.m. due to the onset of astronomical night. This is abnormal. And we all came to express this,
 said social activist Roman Chestnykh.

There were no police officers or akimat representatives present at the scene.

The Oskemen Department of Internal Policy confirmed that officials had proposed November 5 for the rally, but said the organizer himself declined:

In compliance with the administrative court’s decision, the applicant was asked to hold a peaceful assembly on November 5, 2025. However, L.V. Kartashev personally submitted a written refusal,
 the department reported.

Kazakhstan switched to a single time zone, UTC+5, on March 1, 2024. Since then, residents of East Kazakhstan have complained about the early sunsets. In Oskemen, the sun sets around 4:00 p.m., prompting a wave of social media posts calling for the old time zone to be restored — a proposal the government has rejected.

Original Author: Elena Medvedeva