Kazakhstan Justice - The Times Of Central Asia

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Ukrainian Childen

Ukrainian Woman Detained in Astana at Russia’s Request

Ukrainian citizen Lyubov Rozhanska has been detained at Astana airport at Russia’s request in connection with a criminal case over an alleged attempt to abduct a child, Deutsche Welle (DW) reported. She had flown from Istanbul to collect her grandson. Ukraine has called for her release and opposed her possible transfer to Russia. Rozhanska was detained on October 1 while passing through border control. She is currently being held in a pretrial detention facility in Astana, her Kazakhstan-based lawyer Riza Nurbayeva told DW. A court is expected to consider whether she should remain in custody. According to Nurbayeva and Russian lawyer Alexei Pryanishnikov, the criminal case against Rozhanska concerns her grandson, who was born in 2018. Ukraine’s ambassador to Kazakhstan, Viktor Maiko, described the actions of the Russian security services as an “outright provocation.” “The embassy is already working with our Kazakh colleagues to secure Ms. Rozhanska’s release as quickly as possible. We categorically oppose the unfounded demands of the Federal Security Service to deport her to Russia, where there is a real threat to her health and life,” Maiko said in a statement issued by the Ukrainian Embassy in Kazakhstan on October 2. The Russian authorities have not publicly responded to the ambassador’s statement. The case stems from a dispute over where the child should live. In 2021, his mother, Alla Andreeva, traveled with him from Odesa to Russia’s Kaliningrad region. In 2022, they obtained Russian citizenship. In March 2025, Ukraine’s Supreme Court ruled that the boy should live with his father in Odesa. In the summer of 2026, according to the defense, relatives of the mother’s second husband offered to hand the child over to his father and grandmother. A meeting was arranged in Astana, where Rozhanska traveled from Turkey. By then, Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, was already investigating a criminal case against her, opened in 2023, according to Nurbayeva. By August 27, the Central District Court of Kaliningrad had authorized Rozhanska’s detention. Nurbayeva said Rozhanska was unaware of the criminal proceedings and had never previously traveled to Russia. The defense believes the circumstances surrounding the trip to Kazakhstan were deliberately arranged to facilitate Rozhanska’s detention. There has been no confirmation of this account from the authorities in Kazakhstan or Russia. Maiko linked the case to the transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia and Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova over the alleged unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children. This case concerns a child whose mother took him to Russia in 2021, before the full-scale invasion. Moscow denies abducting children and says they were moved from combat zones for their safety.

Religious Freedom

Why Central Asian Governments Are Regulating Religious Life

Kyrgyzstan is requiring bloggers and other social media users who publicly preach religion online to obtain a special certificate. The website of the National Agency for Religious Affairs and Interethnic Relations includes an application form for registration as a “religious preacher.” Nurgazy Kyrgyzbaev, a chief specialist at the agency, announced the measure on local radio. He said the requirement stems from the country’s new religion law, which introduced the legal category of “religious preacher.” “People who want to publicly call others to religion must obtain a special certificate. Their religious education will be considered first and foremost. Recently, people have appeared online who call themselves bloggers and create religious content,” Kyrgyzbaev said, adding that their religious qualifications had previously gone unchecked. This, he argued, created a risk of inaccurate or misleading religious information being spread. Under the new system, applicants must have higher or secondary religious education and obtain the consent of the relevant central religious authority before registering with the agency. For Muslim applicants, this means approval from the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kyrgyzstan, or Muftiate. Kyrgyzbaev said Muftiate employees engaged in preaching are automatically treated as religious preachers. Kyrgyzstan has traditionally allowed greater religious diversity than most of its Central Asian neighbors, including a wider range of Islamic movements. It remains the only country in the region where Tablighi Jamaat and the Nurcular movement can operate legally. Tablighi Jamaat, for example, is banned as extremist in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Religious Freedom Concerns Across the Region Central Asia has long attracted criticism from international religious-freedom monitors. In its 2026 annual report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended that the U.S. State Department place Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan on its Special Watch List for severe violations of religious freedom. It recommended that Tajikistan and Turkmenistan be designated Countries of Particular Concern, a higher category reserved under U.S. law for governments accused of particularly severe violations. According to USCIRF, Tajik authorities continued to use the country’s law on traditions and ceremonies to regulate religious life, including through fines and public campaigns. After amendments adopted in 2024 prohibited the import, sale, promotion, and wearing of clothing deemed “alien to national culture,” authorities also campaigned against what they described as foreign styles of dress. USCIRF and other religious-freedom monitors have reported even tighter state control in Turkmenistan, where religious activity outside officially approved structures remains heavily restricted. Reports have described pressure on religious leaders to provide information to the authorities about believers practicing outside state-sanctioned forms of Islam. USCIRF has argued that Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, like other Central Asian states, apply extremism laws to religious practices that involve neither violence nor incitement. Religion Moves Online in Kazakhstan In Kazakhstan, as in Kyrgyzstan, mosques are no longer necessarily the primary source of religious knowledge for younger people. At independence in 1991, Kazakhstan had only 68 mosques. The Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kazakhstan reported 2,945 functioning mosques at the beginning of 2026. The expansion reflects the extraordinary revival of...

Kashagan Oil Field

Kazakhstan Resumes Collection of $5.2 Billion Kashagan Fine

Kazakhstan has restarted enforcement proceedings to collect a 2.3 trillion tenge ($5.22 billion) environmental fine from North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), operator of the Kashagan oil field, ending a three-week procedural pause. The proceedings resumed on September 29, according to the Justice Ministry’s online enforcement database. NCOC continues to reject both the allegations behind the fine and the penalty itself, and says it is challenging them through available legal channels. Collection had been suspended on September 7 after NCOC challenged the actions of a state enforcement officer. The Specialized Interdistrict Administrative Court of Atyrau Region requested the enforcement case materials, which required the collection process to stop while the documents were before the court. The Justice Ministry said at the time that the pause was procedural and that collection would resume. The court later rejected NCOC’s claim seeking to overturn the enforcement proceedings. The ruling was reported on September 28, and the enforcement status changed to active on the following day. The fine stems from a 2022 environmental inspection at Kashagan’s onshore facilities in the Atyrau Region that identified about ten alleged violations. Inspectors said more than 1.7 million metric tons of sulfur had accumulated at the Bolashak processing complex, while the operator’s permit allowed storage of no more than 730,000 tons. NCOC has maintained that its sulfur handling complied with Kazakh law and the permits issued for the project. Internal documents reported earlier by The Times of Central Asia showed that Eni had warned as early as 2017 that the project risked exceeding its permitted sulfur-storage capacity. The dispute has moved through several rounds of domestic litigation. The original penalty order was overturned in 2025 because of procedural defects, without dismissing the underlying environmental allegations. Regulators then reissued the penalty. The Atyrau Regional Court upheld the fine on June 19, clearing the way for compulsory enforcement after NCOC did not pay by the July deadline. Kazakhstan then stepped up pressure on the consortium. Enforcement proceedings began in July, and authorities froze NCOC property and vehicles. The company’s managing director was also warned of possible administrative and criminal liability for failure to comply with the court ruling. The domestic enforcement process is running alongside international arbitration. NCOC’s six foreign shareholders have challenged the penalty through treaty arbitration. Separately, NCOC said in July that a tribunal operating under the rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law had issued interim measures barring enforcement while that arbitration remained pending. Kazakhstan’s Justice Ministry rejected NCOC’s interpretation of the interim order. It argued that the commercial arbitration tribunal could not prevent the state from enforcing environmental law and a final domestic court judgment. NCOC has continued to maintain that enforcement should not proceed while the arbitration is unresolved. Kashagan is one of Kazakhstan’s largest oil fields and one of the biggest oil discoveries of recent decades. Recoverable reserves are estimated at between 9 billion and 13 billion barrels. The field produced 18.2 million tons of oil in 2025. The consortium brings together...

Military Deaths

Deaths During Caspian Military Drills: Kazakhstan Investigates Commanders’ Actions

Fourteen servicemen in Kazakhstan’s Armed Forces were killed during military exercises on the Caspian Sea on September 24, and five Armed Forces officials were detained. On the same evening, around 100 relatives and Aktau residents gathered outside the city morgue as a serviceman read out the names of the dead. People demanded the chance to identify the bodies, and screams and crying could be heard after some names. September 25 was declared a day of national mourning in Kazakhstan. The Ministry of Defense later reported that 17 had been swept into the sea; three were rescued, one of whom was hospitalized, and 14 died. A criminal case was opened under provisions covering negligence in the performance of military duties resulting in serious consequences and violations of navigation rules. The Khazar Qorgany 2026 exercises began on September 22 in Kazakhstan’s sector of the Caspian Sea. More than 500 military personnel took part, along with ships and boats from the Naval Forces, hydrographic vessels, Coast Guard units of the National Security Committee’s Border Service, and Air Defense Forces aircraft. Relatives of one serviceman said that officials from the akimat, the local executive authority, the police, and the military enlistment office came to the family’s home to tell them their son had died. Members of other families said that some of the conscripts were about a week away from completing their military service. Based on the published birth dates of 12 servicemen on the Ministry of Defense’s initial list, they were between 19 and 23 years old; nine were born in 2006 or 2007. Among those killed was 20-year-old sailor Serzhan Ayapbergen from the Mangystau region. Before joining the military, he competed in sambo and judo, won silver at the Kazakhstan championship and the Commonwealth of Independent States Games in sambo, won judo competitions, and earned the title of Candidate for Master of Sport. Deaths among military personnel in peacetime have been debated in Kazakhstan for years. In April 2023, First Deputy Chief Military Prosecutor Maksat Kaziyev said that 270 servicemen had died since the beginning of 2020: 78 in 2020, 96 in 2021, 85 in 2022, and another 11 in the first months of 2023. According to prosecutors, 36% of the deaths were related to illness, 24% to road accidents, and 20% to suicide. Between 2018 and 2022, 86 suicides and 20 attempted suicides were recorded among military personnel. These figures cover career military personnel, contract soldiers, and conscripts, and include different causes of death. They do not show how many people died specifically while performing military duties. The deaths of conscripts, young men performing compulsory military service, are particularly sensitive in Kazakhstan. [caption id="attachment_57024" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Detention of the suspected commander / Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan[/caption] In November 2025, journalists questioned Defense Minister Dauren Kosanov about deaths among servicemen, hazing in Kazakhstan’s armed forces, and violence in military units. After a reporter said that news of serious incidents appeared almost every month, Kosanov responded with apparent...

Caspian Sea

At Least Nine Kazakh Servicemen Killed During Caspian Sea Exercises

At least nine Kazakh servicemen have died during naval exercises in the Caspian Sea on September 24, Kazakhstan’s Defense Ministry said. Search operations continued after strong winds carried military personnel out to sea in the western Mangistau region. The ministry’s initial statement said 19 servicemen had been swept away following a sudden deterioration in weather conditions. Three were rescued, including one who was hospitalized. The ministry confirmed nine deaths and said rescuers were searching for the others. A subsequent report by Ulysmedia said its correspondent at the scene had reported the recovery of 12 bodies. That figure had not been officially confirmed. The report said divers were searching underwater while two helicopters assisted from above. The Prosecutor General’s Office announced a criminal investigation into the deaths, with an investigative team formed to establish the circumstances of the incident. Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov also established a government commission, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev. Bektenov instructed him to travel immediately to the scene, oversee a comprehensive investigation, and arrange assistance for the bereaved families. The Defense Ministry separately dispatched a commission led by Defense Minister Dauren Kosanov. Naval units and emergency services joined the search, with aviation support. The ministry said the families of those killed would receive assistance. Two days earlier, the ministry had announced the start of the Khazar Korgany-2026 exercises in Kazakhstan’s sector of the Caspian Sea. More than 500 personnel were involved, alongside naval vessels and coastal units. However, the ministry’s initial account of the deaths did not identify the exercise by name. The deaths come amid continuing concern over peacetime fatalities in Kazakhstan’s armed forces. The circumstances of the Caspian incident remain under investigation, including how the servicemen became stranded in the water. By order of the Head of State, a day of national mourning has been declared for September 25, 2026.

Public Spaces

Kazakhstan Proposes Fines for Unauthorized Graffiti

Kazakhstan is preparing to introduce fines for unauthorized graffiti on public buildings and structures. The Interior Ministry has proposed enshrining a ban in law following a campaign against vandalism and drug-related graffiti. Interior Minister Yerzhan Sadenov presented the proposals on September 21 at a government meeting. Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov instructed the Interior Ministry to prepare amendments aimed at “establishing a complete ban on all types of graffiti that damage public places.” A significant part of the police’s current work involves drug-related graffiti: inscriptions advertising drugs and providing sellers’ contact details. According to the Interior Ministry, police and volunteers have removed around 80,000 such inscriptions and drawings. Authorities have opened 81 criminal cases over drug promotion and advertising, with 19 people convicted. Through the digital service “No to Drugs,” citizens have reported another 150 violations to the police. The Interior Ministry’s proposal, however, goes beyond drug-related graffiti. Sadenov spoke about inscriptions and drawings on public buildings and structures in general. The government used the wording graffiti that “damage public places.” How “damage” is defined in the amendments could determine how authorized street art is treated. In Almaty, Astana, and other cities, murals have long been used to decorate building facades and public spaces. The government materials published so far contain no proposal to prohibit such works. Elsewhere, legislation generally links liability not to graffiti as an art form, but to a lack of authorization and damage to property. In Germany, criminal liability applies, among other things, to unauthorized alterations that substantially and permanently change the appearance of public monuments and works of art. One of the stricter regimes is in Singapore, where the Vandalism Act includes a maximum fine of up to S$2,000 or up to three years in prison. For certain offenses, the law also provides for caning. Kazakhstan’s approach will become clearer once the amendments are published. For now, the Interior Ministry has proposed administrative liability rather than a separate criminal offense for graffiti. The government is also preparing a National Cleanliness Standard. It is expected to include requirements covering the maintenance and landscaping of populated areas, the upkeep of natural areas, environmental education, and volunteer activities. Urban development regulations are also changing. The new Construction Code established the design code as a tool for shaping the appearance of cities and other populated areas. Specialized urban planning organizations have been established in all regions, while regional authorities have approved road maps for urban development for 2026-2027.