Anyone interested in a more thorough and context-ladden history of Aralsk, Uzbekistan, and the transition from the Soviet Union to a sovereign country should check out Tom Bissell's great, great book, Chasing the Sea [1], about his time a Peace Corps volunteer there and afterwards. Great writer, really interesting topic.

[1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/233072.Chasing_the_Sea