The speed at which the protests turned violent took many by surprise, both in Kazakhstan and in the wider region, and hinted that they are not only about an increase in fuel prices.
This is a traditionally stable Central Asian state, which is often described as authoritarian. Until 2019 it was run by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, whose rule was marked by elements of a personality cult, with his statues erected across the country and a capital renamed after him, Olga Ivshina, BBC Russia reports.
Yet when he left, it was amid anti-government protests which he sought to limit by stepping down and putting a close ally in his place.
Most elections in Kazakhstan are won by the ruling party with nearly 100% of the vote and there is no effective political opposition.
The analysts Ivshina spoke to say that the Kazakh government clearly underestimated how angry the population was, and that these protests were not surprising in a country with no electoral democracy - people need to take to the streets to be heard.
And their grievances are almost certainly about a far wider set of issues than the price of fuel.
