The article explores the present role and future of the Russian language in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It contrasts state language policies and the views of ordinary Kazakhstani citizens, recorded mainly in interviews (including expert ones) and focus-group discussions with students of various Almaty universities conducted in 2016 and 2017. Attention is focused on the views of Kazakh students, members of the so called "Nazarbayev generation" because from their ranks future elites will be recruited. Suggesting that the Russian linguistic-cultural space in Central Asia is largely a historically rooted phenomenon and has not been genuinely dependent on Russia, the authors suggest that the Russian Federation needs to readjust it external language and culture promotion so far geared almost exclusively to the so-called "compatriots" and seriously take into consideration the needs of another, more numerous target-group. These are the titular (Kazakh) Russian-speakers of various age and social status — now they comprise the larger part of those whose Russian language skills are on the native or near-to-native level. Drawing on the results of empirical research, authors suggest that Russia's efforts geared at the preservation and development of the Russian linguistic and cultural space in Kazakhstan need to be restructured in order to overcome the "sedative" effect of the too familiar environment inherited from the Soviet past and acknowledge the potential of the local "mobilizing" factors making this restructuring a very topical task. Among these factors are specifics of cultural globalization in Kazakhstan, and Russia's competition with some other international players in Central Asia.