'We want respect': Putin's authority tested in Central Asia

FILE PHOTO: Russia's President Vladimir Putin talks with Kyrgyzstan's President Sadyr Japarov before trilateral meeting with Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon on the sidelines of the 6th summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia (CICA), in Astana, Kazakhstan October 13, 2022. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS

Sensing that Russia has been weakened by its war in Ukraine, some of its closest allies in Central Asia are displaying a newly assertive streak.

The region's five former Soviet republics are increasingly standing up to Moscow, aware of their new-found leverage as Russia looks to their markets and trade routes in a bid to circumvent Western sanctions.