The Satpayev City Court in Kazakhstan has sentenced a native of Kazakhstan’s Ulytau region to four and a half years in prison for his participation in the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict. The man served in Russian private military company Wagner, which fought in Ukraine on the side of the Russian Federation, Orda.kz reported.
According to the Ulytau Regional Court, in the fall of 2022, the man decided to join the Wagner PMC for ideological reasons. The man believed that the Ukrainian authorities were allegedly oppressing ethnic Russians in Ukraine. He supported the Russian invasion and decided to join the Russian military fighting in Ukraine.
In November 2022, the man went to Russia and signed a contract with the Wagner.
For his participation in the war against Ukraine, he was promised a salary of 240 thousand rubles (about $2,300) a month.
From December 2022 to July 2023, the man fought on the side of Russia against Ukraine. When his contract expired, he returned to Kazakhstan.
The man was convicted in accordance with Article 172 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan — intentional participation in a military conflict on the territory of another country. He admitted his guilt.