Deputies in the Mazhilis have raised the issue of violent deaths and suicides in the armed forces, whilst sections of the public have also called for the army to be converted to a contract basis and the draft age to be raised.

Alarming statistics

In late September, Konstantin Avershin, a member of the Mazhilis Committee on International Affairs, Defense, and Security, spoke about the results of an investigation into suicides in law enforcement and security agencies. Over the past four years, 86 suicides have occurred in across said agencies, Avershin stated, with this data pertaining to the Ministry of Defense, the National Guard of the Interior Ministry, the Border Service of the National Security Committee, the State Protection Service, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

“In four years, 40 suicides have been registered in the Armed Forces. In 2021 – 10, 2022 – 7, 2023 – 12, and 2024 – 11. By category these were: officers – 7, contract servicemen – 22, cadets – 4, conscript soldiers – 7. Pretrial investigations have been completed in 34 cases, and final procedural decisions have been made. In none of them were signs found of ‘leading’ to suicide,” according to Avershin. The proceedings in these cases were terminated due to a lack of corpus delicti.

Despite this, based on the results of official investigations, disciplinary measures were taken against 180 persons: eleven were relieved of their posts, two were demoted, and 167 service personnel received various disciplinary sanctions in line with their rank.

On October 8, Avershin raised another problem: the poor quality of food being provided to service personnel. According to his data, the funds allotted for rations per soldier is 2,250 tenge ($4.6) per day. By comparison, chess players, sport fishermen, ship modelers, and players of togyzumalak (a national board game) and checkers are entitled to 6,276.4 tenge ($12.9) per day, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Sport’s regulations for 2024. “A soldier cannot be fed almost three times worse than a checkers player,” Avershin stated.

Earlier, MP Nartai Sarsengaliyev asked Defense Minister Ruslan Zhaksylykov about the current situation in Kazakhstan’s army. The deputy highlighted numerous high-profile cases, stating that over the past three years, 270 servicemen have died in Kazakhstan.

“In August 2023, a commanding officer beat a recruit with a chair in a military unit. The case was closed after the parties reconciled. In June 2024, in one of the military units in the Zhambyl region, a soldier who had been in the army for only one month was admitted to intensive care in an unconscious state. The situation caused shocked society. National Guard soldier Yerbayan Mukhtar has been unconscious for five months after suffering a head injury. Those in charge say that ‘Yerbayan ‘fell in the bathroom and sustained a head injury.’ Who would believe this? As a result of the injury, half of the soldier’s skull was removed. Now, he needs constant care. Now his parents are taking Yerbayan abroad for treatment,” Sarsengaliyev stated.

In addition to the cases raised by Sarsengaliyev, on September 7, a nineteen-year-old conscript, Private Marat Barkulov died in the Mangistau region. The tragedy occurred at the Oymasha range during a training camp for units of the Regional Command “West,” where Barkulov served. For reasons unspecified, Lieutenant Damir Dosov fired an unauthorized shot from a 9 mm PM pistol, which hit Barkulov in the face.

As Sarsengaliyev pointed out, the Defense Ministry has stated that more than 50,000 surveillance cameras were installed in military units last year. “And where did the recordings from these cameras go?” Sarsengaliyev asked. “Or at moments like Yerbayan’s, were the cameras simply switched off?” the deputy wondered.

Sarsengaliyev has demanded that specific measures be taken to prevent violence in the army and initiate projects aimed at improving the wellbeing of service personnel.

Society Proposes – Ministry of Defense Rejects

In September, prompted by this spate of high-profile incidents in the armed forces, concerned citizens in Kazakhstan created a petition calling for conscription to be abolished. “Accidents, suicides, and other tragedies related to non-regular relations, unpreparedness, or insufficient medical control call into question the expediency of continuing compulsory service,” the authors of the petition wrote.

The Defense Ministry, however, stated that according to Article 90-1 of the Administrative Procedure Code, defense issues cannot be the subject of petitions. “This initiative is undermining the state’s defense capability,” the Ministry bluntly stated.

According to Shaykh-Khasan Zhazykbayev, deputy defense minister for educational and ideological work, without compulsory military service, the budget would be insufficient to provide Kazakhstan with a fully-functional and professional army.

“We train young men through this system (conscripted military service) and enroll them in the reserve. If there is a threat to the country’s independence, who will stand up to defend it? A contract army is good, but may impact the country’s budget,” the vice-minister said.

Mazhilis deputy Avershin, who has publicly reported on shortcomings in the army, supports the ministry’s position. “We should not forget that the main task of conscript service is to teach as much of the population as possible to use firearms and to be in barracks conditions. Most people don’t know which side to approach a machine gun from. There are only 20 million of us, and the territory is prosperous and large, so as much of the population as possible should be able to defend their homeland with weapons. The second point is that no budget will be enough to maintain a fully professional army,” Avershin stated.

In addition to the aforementioned petition, another petition was published in September which demanded that the draft age be raised from 18 to 20. However, the Ministry of Defense has stated that an 18-year-old draftee has all the necessary physical and psychological attributes required to serve. In addition, the ministry said that young men, as a rule, have not yet gone to university and do have a wife and children, so serving will not interrupt their studies or tear them away from their families. The ministry also stated its’ belief that the serving in the armed forces serves to enhance social mobility for conscripts looking to work in law enforcement agencies.