Check this Kazakhstan chocolate ad released shortly after Russia's first mass mobilization (and flight) for another Kazakh win

I'll probably never have the chance to eat whatever the fuck brand of Kazakh chocolate that is, but being nice to a Russian guy fleeing the draft while also implying that being outside of Russia is his first taste of freedom is peak international trolling, I love it.

"Z" is a military symbol that the Russian military has been painting on vehicles in Ukraine. It's become a pro-war symbol for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Upvote for a sincere question. Here's the wiki article on its use as a fascistic pro-war symbol. Kazakhs are unhappy with it because they too are a country that Russia makes territorial claims against and are thus largely opposed to the war and its symbols.

“It’s the start of a maze.”

I don't disagree with the sentiment, but Z is still a letter of the alphabet and should have a bit more leeway. What their true intention is, I don't know, but it is a lot harder to say for certain it was in bad taste.

That depends. Kazakhstan switched the Kazakh language to the roman alphabet recently. So now Russian names, when transliterated to Kazakh can start with Z. Still, in this context, it's probably not being used that way.