Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry Responds to Claims of Citizens Fighting for Russia

Ukraine claims that over 600 Kazakhstan citizens are fighting on Russia’s side in the ongoing conflict, but Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has not confirmed the accuracy of this data, Orda.kz reports.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Lepekha emphasized that participation in foreign armed conflicts is prohibited by law and is considered a criminal offense:

First of all, we don't know the reliability of these figures. To what extent they correspond to reality. We need to look, check whether there is information or not,he said in the Majilis, responding to questions from journalists. 

Ukraine’s “I Want to Live” center — established under the Ministry of Defense and the Main Intelligence Directorate — released data claiming that 661 Kazakhstan citizens have allegedly taken part in military operations in Ukraine since 2022.

According to their information, at least 78 of them have died. The figures were reportedly sourced from anonymous representatives within the Russian military command.

The “I Want to Live” center was established at the beginning of the war and processes surrender requests from Russian soldiers.

Original Author: Artyom Volkov