Kazakhstan: Man Sentenced for Fighting with Wagner Group

A court in Satpayev has handed down a prison sentence to a man from the Ulytau region who fought in Ukraine as a member of Russia's Wagner private military company, Orda.kz reports.

Court documents reveal that the Jezkazgan resident chose to join Wagner in the fall of 2022, motivated by personal ideology.

His late father's origins in Kharkiv influenced his belief in alleged Russian oppression by Ukrainian authorities, leading him to support Russia's invasion.

The man initiated contact with Wagner representatives himself.

His journey began in November 2022, when he traveled to Petropavlovsk and took a taxi across the Russian border.

After reaching Krasnodar, he underwent training at a Wagner facility before signing a contract with the organization.

The position came with a promised salary of 240,000 rubles. His contract included a death benefit clause - if killed, his designated friend would receive 5 million rubles in compensation.

Assigned to an artillery unit, he managed a weapons depot.

He served alongside other Wagner fighters from December 2022 through July 2023, returning to Kazakhstan via a Moscow-Astana flight after his contract ended.

Investigators determined he violated Article 172 of Kazakhstan's Criminal Code by knowingly participating in another country's military conflict.

The court found him guilty of committing a serious crime against the peace and security of humanity, a charge to which he confessed.

The defendant was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. He will serve his sentence in a medium-security facility. The sentence has not entered into legal force, the regional court reported.

Original Author: Nikita Drobny