Stepnogorsk, a city north of the Kazakh capital Astana, carries a heavy legacy dating back to Soviet times. A secret Soviet-founded facility in the city to develop and produce biological weapons, led by Anthrax 836.
The facility produced about 300 tons of bomb-ready anthrax every year, which was three times more deadly than its former Soviet-produced counterpart in Sverdolovsk. The full details of what happened at that secret facility would not have been possible without a microbiologist who was entrusted with the reins of the facility.