Kazakhstan has sent a note to Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking for help in bringing home Kazakh citizens who ended up in the Russian army. Among them is Astana resident Miras Tasharganov, who went to Russia to earn money and later told his family he had been forced to sign a military contract. Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry said this in response to a request from Azattyk.
The ministry said that on September 17, the consular section of Kazakhstan's embassy contacted Tasharganov's mother, Gulzhan Tasharganova, and Tasharganov himself. He confirmed the information his mother had relayed earlier and said several other Kazakh citizens were with him. He asked for help in getting them home.
Azattyk reported Tasharganov's story last week. The 25-year-old Astana resident went to Russia as a shift worker but ended up in the Russian armed forces. He told his mother he had signed a one-year contract and had been forced to do so. She appealed to Kazakh government agencies to bring her son home, fearing he could be sent to the war in Ukraine.
There are no exact figures on how many Kazakh citizens are fighting for Russia in the war against Ukraine. The Ukrainian state project «I Want to Live» earlier said at least 2,389 Kazakh citizens had signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense. According to the project, more than 12,000 citizens of Central Asian countries may have served in the Russian armed forces in total.
Participation in armed conflicts abroad can carry criminal liability in Kazakhstan. Article 172 of the Criminal Code punishes participation in foreign armed conflicts, and Article 170 punishes mercenarism. Depending on how the offense is classified, penalties can reach nine years in prison under Article 172 and life imprisonment under Article 170.
Human rights activists who help migrants in Russia have said it is extremely difficult to get a person out of the Russian army once a military contract is signed. Some service members return to Kazakhstan after being wounded and treated in hospital, and criminal cases are then opened against them.
