Even when putin was calling half of Ukraine a russian land?
Yes. Northern Kazakhstan is ethnically russian. But the Kazakhs understood their precarious situation much better than the Ukrainians and did not seek to alienate Russians, instead they did things like make Russian the inter-ethnic language of communication, move the capital to ethnically russian areas to make them feel invested, etc
in Ukraine you had pro-Russian parties banned and politicians arrested, non-violent pro-Russian activists imprisoned or killed (e.g. Buzina), historical Russian statues being dismantled, shutting down pro- or neutral/Russian media outlets, cutting off water to Crimea, attempting kidnapping operations on Russian soil and in international airspace, etc.
Contrast that with Kazakhstan's approach, of just playing the long game and waiting out the Russians. Much smarter, and Ukraine should have adopted something similar