Don’t Expect Them Home: Where Kazakhstan's Citizens Fighting for Russia Were Killed in Ukraine

On October 15, the Ukrainian foundation “I Want to Live” published a list of 270 Kazakh citizens who went to fight on Russia’s side and were killed. The foundation insists that all names on the list are real. This was confirmed when a woman from Oral found her husband in the list.

She is now searching for his body because she does not know where he died. 

Orda.kz set out to find out where the citizens of Kazakhstan fighting for Russia were killed.

To do this, we took the foundation’s list and used open-source information to trace where each unit was deployed during the periods with the highest number of Kazakhstani casualties. We also checked where those units are located now.

The Ukrainian website Deep State, which maps Russian troop positions on the front line, helped with this.

Here is the list published by “I Want to Live.”

As seen, the Kazakhstani citizens on the list served in a wide variety of Russian military units. We counted nearly 70 formations — from reconnaissance battalions to army command headquarters. Most, however, served in motorized rifle regiments, brigades, and infantry.

We did not trace every single battalion, regiment, and brigade. Instead, we focused on ten units that account for nearly half of all Kazakhstani citizens killed in Ukraine — specifically, 116 people.

Initially, we assumed these would be formations stationed in Russian regions bordering Kazakhstan, such as the 15th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade from Roschinsky in Samara Region, or the 21st Brigade from Totskoye in Orenburg Region.

But this turned out to be true only for the 255th Motorized Rifle Regiment. More on that later — it is not the leader in the number of Kazakh casualties. We begin with the units that lost the most Kazakh citizens. Before that, a reminder:

102nd Motorized Rifle Regiment of The 150th Motorized Rifle Division — 23 killed

Garrison location: Persiyanovsky, Rostov Region.

The 102nd MRR can be described as the largest mass grave for Kazakh citizens in the war in Ukraine. It accounts for nearly one-tenth of all Kazakh casualties.

According to reports, the 102nd Regiment is not only the leader in Kazakh losses — Ukrainian outlet Focus calls it the Russian unit with the highest casualties overall.

Idel.Realii, however, named the 15th Brigade the deadliest in June 2025. These rankings shift constantly.

Kazakhstani fighters appear to be far from the only foreigners in the 102nd Regiment. In June 2025, “I Want to Live” published a video allegedly showing new recruits for the unit.

The men in the footage — wearing Russian military uniforms — named the countries they came from: Kenya, Iran, China, Colombia, Ghana, Bangladesh. There were no Kazakhstanis visible, but the foundation’s list shows they were there.

Most soldiers from Kazakhstan serving in the 102nd Regiment died between April and August 2025.

According to Russian sources, the regiment took part in the assault on Toretsk from February 2025, and Russia fully occupied the city by early August.

Deep State’s maps show the 102nd Regiment still deployed near Toretsk as of mid-November.

6th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade — 12 killed

Garrison location: Stakhanov (Kadiivka) and Pervomaisk (Sokolohirsk), Luhansk Region.

Originally, the 6th Brigade was a regiment of the so-called LPR. Because many fighters were Don Cossacks from Russia, it was known as a “Cossack” unit. In 2015, its commander, Pavel Dremov — who had publicly criticized the leadership of the self-proclaimed republic — was blown up in a car on the way to his own wedding.

The regiment became a brigade after the full-scale invasion in 2023. It also carries the title “Lysychansk,” as it played a key role in the capture of Lysychansk in summer 2022. It has been fighting around the city ever since.

In spring 2025, Russian forces began an offensive on Lyman in the Donetsk Region, which continues. Most Kazakhstani casualties in the 6th Brigade occurred in spring and summer 2025.

1st Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade — 11 killed

Garrison location: Komsomolske (Kalmiuske), Donetsk Region.

This unit did not exist as part of the Russian army before the invasion. It was created as part of the militia of the so-called DNR with the direct involvement of Igor Girkin (Strelkov), who was sentenced in Russia in 2024 for “calls to terrorism.”

In 2022, the brigade first took part in the assault on Mariupol, still functioning as a unit of the unrecognized republic. It became part of the Russian Armed Forces only by late 2022, when it was already participating in the assault on Avdiivka — one of the satellite cities of Donetsk — which it continued storming until February 2024.

After that, it advanced on the Ukrainian defensive line stretching from Berdychi to Semenivka, Orlivka, and Tonenke. And judging by the fact that many Kazakhstani fighters in this unit have dates of death from March to July 2024, it was during this assault that they were killed.

The scale of losses suffered by the 1st Brigade during that period is illustrated in an investigation by Bereg. According to the report, the brigade became known as the “Bermuda Triangle” because of the sheer number of troops who were killed.

For three other citizens of Kazakhstan who served in the brigade, the date of death is listed as March 23, 2025.

Two days earlier, Ukrainian forces had struck a Russian military bunker near Toretsk, where the 1st Brigade was stationed at the time.

Another wave of Kazakhstani casualties came in summer 2025, when the unit was redeployed to the hottest section of the front — near Pokrovsk and Mrynohrad.

Deep State shows the brigade still fighting on the Pokrovsk salient.

103rd Motorized Rifle Regiment of The 150th Division — 11 killed

Garrison location: Rostov-on-Don.

This is another unit of the 150th Division. Alexey Sergeyev — the man whose wife identified him in the “I Want to Live” list — served here.

The regiment was recreated in 2019 and has been fighting since the first days of the invasion. The 150th Division in particular flattened the town of Maryinka.

Since February 2025, the 103rd Regiment — like the 102nd — has been deployed along the Toretsk axis.

As noted above, Russian forces were assaulting Toretsk from February to August 2025. Every citizen of Kazakhstan from the 103rd Motor Rifle Regiment who was killed died between March and July 2025, which means they were all killed near Toretsk. 

The last two names on the I Want to Live list are Alexey Sergeyev — the man whose wife recognized him — and a man identified as Yegor Dorokhin. Both were killed on July 11, 2025. Dorokhin died less than two weeks before his 40th birthday.

A month later, Ukrainian outlet Focus named the 103rd Regiment the second-highest in Russian military losses.

255th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 20th Division — 11 killed

Garrison location: Volgograd.

This is the only top-ten unit from a region bordering Kazakhstan. Reestablished in 2020, it fought in Kherson, later near Maryinka, and now on the Pokrovsk salient, trying to advance on Mrynohrad. Most Kazakhstani casualties here are from 2025.

But while the 102nd and 103rd Regiments are “known” for their high number of casualties, the 20th Motorized Rifle Division — and the 255th Regiment in particular — is also notorious for a large number of desertions.

In November 2024, the outlet Vazhnye Istorii reported that more than 1,000 soldiers had deserted from the 20th Division. None of the 11 citizens of Kazakhstan listed by the “I Want to Live” foundation was among them.

4th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade — 11 killed

Garrison location: Krasnyi Luch, Luhansk Region.

Another LPR-origin unit with a similar history to the 6th Brigade. Created in 2014, its first commander, Alexander Bednov, was mysteriously killed on January 1, 2025, when his convoy was ambushed in separatist-controlled territory.

In 2023, it took part in the assault on Bakhmut. Since 2024, it has been fighting for Chasiv Yar. Kazakhstani casualties appeared from late 2024 onward. In 2023, Ukrainian outlet Ostrov reported that fighters from the 4th Brigade who had been killed were being buried at a cemetery in the city of Bryanka.

If burials are still taking place there, the graves of citizens of Kazakhstan are likely among them.

Deep State shows the brigade now attacking Kostiantynivka, south of Chasiv Yar.

7th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade — 10 killed

Garrison location: Bryanka, Luhansk Region.

This is another unit that emerged from the armed formations of the self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine. It was first created within the so-called “DPR,” then transferred to the so-called “LPR,” and formally incorporated into the Russian army at the end of 2022, along with other separatist units.

In 2016, its commander, Colonel Aleksandr Bushuev — described by Ukrainian media as a career Russian officer — was killed in a car bombing.

In 2023, the Telegram channel Skhidnyi reported a sharp increase in burials at the Bryanka cemetery used by the 7th Brigade. However, according to the I Want to Live foundation, citizens of Kazakhstan did not appear among the dead at that time.

Their dates of death begin in mid-2024 and continue until August 2025.

The 7th Brigade has been fighting on the Siversk axis since 2023. It is not currently marked on Deep State’s map, but in late October, the Russian site Mirovoe Obozrenie claimed the brigade had “liberated” (i.e., occupied) the village of Dronivka in the Donetsk region.

This suggests its troops are still being killed on the same Siversk front.

It is also confirmed that citizens of Kazakhstan were not the only foreigners serving in the brigade. Less than two months ago, Ukrainian forces captured a Cuban national fighting in its ranks.

9th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade — 10 killed

Garrison location: Donetsk region (exact location not publicly known).

The 9th Brigade began as a separate marine infantry regiment of the so-called “DPR,” created in 2016. It took part in the assault on Mariupol in 2022 and, already as a brigade, in the storming of Avdiivka in 2023. At least one Kazakhstani killed in December 2023 appears to have died near that city.

About half of the citizens of Kazakhstan who served in the 9th Brigade were killed in 2024, when the unit advanced on Toretsk.

Among its “achievements,” Russia highlights the capture of the settlement of New York — largely because of its American name. Since many Kazakhstanis in this brigade died between July and September 2024, they were likely killed near New York.

The rest died in summer–autumn 2025, after the brigade was redeployed to the Pokrovsk sector, where, according to Deep State, it continues to fight.

110th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade — 10 killed

Garrison location: Donetsk.

This unit was originally the 100th Brigade of the self-proclaimed DPR; on 1 January 2023, it was absorbed into Russia’s armed forces and redesignated the 110th Brigade.

According to I Want to Live, deaths of Kazakhstani soldiers serving in the 110th Brigade are split almost evenly between spring 2024 and spring–summer 2025.

In March 2024, the brigade received a commendation from then – Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu for its role in the “liberation” of Avdiivka — where some of the Kazakh nationals likely died.

In early 2025, it took part in the offensive on Kurakhove. Currently, like many of the units mentioned above, it is fighting on the Pokrovsk salient, attempting to advance on Myrnohrad.

In early October, the Ukrainian outlet Obozrevatel listed the 1st, 9th, and 110th Brigades among the Russian units suffering the heaviest losses, attributing this to Russia’s “meat assault” tactics — infantry attacks without armored support.

In May 2025, the I Want to Live project released a video of a captured Russian soldier from the 110th Brigade describing torture by his own commanders as one of the reasons he surrendered to Ukrainian forces.

68th Tank Regiment, 150th Motorized Rifle Division — 8 killed

Garrison location: Novocherkassk, Rostov region.

This regiment had been disbanded in 2005 but was reconstituted in 2016. Some of the eight Kazakhstani nationals listed as killed may have been actual tank crewmen, but it is likely most served in the regiment’s assault infantry.

At the start of the full-scale invasion, the 68th Tank Regiment took part in the assault on Mariupol. The Kazakhstani deaths recorded in 2024–2025 correspond to periods when the regiment advanced first toward Chasiv Yar, then toward Kurakhove.

It is currently positioned between the Toretsk and Pokrovsk fronts, according to Deep State.

Altogether, nearly one-fifth of all Kazakhstani fighters killed fighting for Russia belonged to the 150th Motorized Rifle Division.

In addition to the 102nd, 103rd, and 68th Regiments, four citizens of Kazakhstan were killed while serving in the 163rd Tank Regiment. In total, that makes 46 Kazakhstani nationals killed while fighting in a single division of the Russian Armed Forces operating on occupied Ukrainian territory.

Original Author: Igor Ulitin