A close Russian ally is messing with the legendary spaceport it leases to the Kremlin, seizing assets over an unpaid debt

• Kazakhstan impounded Russian equipment at the Baikonur space base over a feud with the Kremlin.
• Kazakh authorities say Russia companies never paid huge fines, leading it to impound equipment there.
• Baikonur is a source of pride for Moscow, from which the Soviet Union sent the first man to space.

Authorities in Kazakhstan impounded Russian assets at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, escalating a post-Soviet feud over the legendary base from which mankind first touched the stars.

Baikonur is pivotal to the Russian space program. Even though it isn't physically in Russia, it has been leased by the Kremlin since Kazakhstan became independent when the Soviet Union collapsed.

The result has been an uneasy relationship between Kazakhstan and its former masters in Moscow.