Lots of Ukrainians were exiled to Kazakhstan, along with the Volga Germans, Cossacks, Crimean Tatars and plenty of "uncooperative" Russians.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, most of these peoples have been migrating out of the region, leaving a population more and more just Muslim Kazakhs.

I'm just wrapping up an intensive study of the cuisines and history of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uyghurstan). Nothing up on the site yet except a bunch of Uzbek and Turkmen salads, with more to come (and very good salads they are).