January 05, 2026

Kazakhstan: Stop Fighting for Russia, Please


Kazakhstan: Stop Fighting for Russia, Please
A Russian soldier pointing a machine gun, kneeling in front of a truck. Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Wikimedia Commons.

On December 25, Mediazona reported that Kazakhstan is sentencing citizens to five years in prison for fighting for Russia in War on Ukraine. In collaboration with the project Proshay, Oruzhie (Goodbye, Weapons), the news site investigated how Kazakh citizens have ended up in Russian trenches and the legal consequences they are facing back in their home country.

Kazakhstan and Russia are close political allies. However, in early 2025, the Ukrainian anti-war organization Khochu Zhit (I Want to Live) leaked the names of over 1200 Kazakhstan citizens fighting as mercenaries for Russia. According to Mediazona, local authorities indicted 700 people for enlisting in Russian military units and the Wagner mercenary group. Participating in a foreign conflict is illegal in Kazakhstan. 

From Cuba to India, Russia has long lured (and tricked) men into fighting in its war in Ukraine. Since most former Soviet nations still speak Russian, they have been targeted with ads for their citizens to join Russia's army. Migrants from these countries have been particularly vulnerable to forced military enlistment. In many of the criminal cases opened by Kazakhstan, the men went to Russia to do contract work. There, they were either forced or coerced into enlisting in the army. Upon returning to Kazakhstan, many of these men turned themselves in or were arrested.

According to Mediazona, Konstantin Kozhakhmeto said he was forced to sign a military contract after being detained for migration violations. The 56-year-old claims he was beaten in detention. Then, he fled while wounded in Donetsk. Kozhakhmeto stayed in the occupied region for months before crossing the border illegally and surrendering to Kazakhstan's authorities.

Other Kazakh men joined the Russian Army because of ethnic ties or for ideological reasons. Pyotr Miroshnichenko, an ethnic Russian from Kazakhstan, openly petitioned to enlist in a video directly addressed to President Vladimir Putin. The 42-year-old attempted to join the army, but his migration card had expired, and he was subsequently deported. Miroshnicheko then crossed the Luhansk border illegally and continued to petition for Russian citizenship as a soldier. However, his quest came to an end after learning he had liver disease and was HIV positive, a disqualifier for becoming a Russian citizen. He returned to Kazakhstan and surrendered to local authorities.

Kazakhstan has not been alone in convicting its citizens for participation in a foreign war. Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have also arrested passport holders who have fought for Russia. So far, 200 Kazakh citizens are estimated to have died fighting for Russia in Ukraine.

You Might Also Like

Running Out of Doctors and Nurses
  • August 20, 2025

Running Out of Doctors and Nurses

Russia's health care system is running out of doctors, nurses, and hospitals. Some regions have no oncologists or cardiologists.
The
  • July 28, 2025

The "Eternal" Draft is Coming

The Duma is considering a bill to hold conscription year-round, making it harder for Russians to avoid the draft.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955