Ministry of Defense - The Times Of Central Asia

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Ministry of Defense

Kazakhstan Names Former Finance Official Deputy Defense Minister Amid Military Shake-Up

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev appointed Tatyana Savelyeva deputy defense minister on October 7. The former vice minister of finance and member of parliament joins a ministry undergoing a major investigation following the deaths of 14 service members during exercises in the Caspian Sea. The investigation has led to criminal cases and arrests, while senior military commanders have been dismissed. Savelyeva replaced Asker Beisenov, who was dismissed from his position on the same day. To take up the appointment, she resigned early from the Kurultai, Kazakhstan's new unicameral parliament. Savelyeva joined it in late August 2026. The 50-year-old Savelyeva has spent most of her career working in public finance. From 2016 to 2023, she served as vice minister of finance, then became a member of the Mazhilis, the lower house of the former parliament, and secretary of the Committee on Finance and Budget. She became the committee’s chair in February 2024. In August 2026, she was elected to the Kurultai representing the Adilet party. The Defense Ministry has not yet announced which areas Savelyeva will oversee. Her predecessor, Beisenov, previously headed the ministry's Department of Economics and Finance. Political analyst Daniyar Ashimbayev links Savelyeva's appointment to the investigation into the Defense Ministry following the deaths of the service members in the Caspian Sea. He recalled corruption investigations within the ministry, including irregularities in military procurement and supplies. In Ashimbayev's assessment, Savelyeva's experience in the Finance Ministry and parliament could prove useful in bringing order to the military budget. On September 24, during the Khazar Qorgany 2026 naval exercises in the Mangystau region, on Kazakhstan's Caspian coast, 17 service members were swept out to sea. Three were rescued, and 14 died. The tragedy sparked public outrage and questions about how the exercises were organized, personnel training, and the actions of the military command. On September 27, Tokayev dismissed Defense Minister Dauren Kosanov. Aidos Myrzakhmetov became the new head of the ministry. The chief of the General Staff, the commander-in-chief of the Naval Forces, and other senior military officers subsequently lost their positions. On October 5, the president was presented with the initial findings of the Defense Ministry investigation. A commission headed by Deputy Chair of the Security Council Aida Balayeva identified violations in the organization of exercises, service member safety, discipline, and logistical support. Thirteen criminal cases have been opened over the suspected theft of state property, abuse of office, and other violations. The deaths of the service members are being investigated separately. At the October 5 briefing, officials said five military officials had been arrested in connection with the deaths. On October 6, the Interior Ministry announced the detention of former navy commander Kanat Niyazbekov on suspicion of negligence, with a court authorizing his arrest. Investigators also uncovered cases of hazing and violence against service members. Tokayev instructed officials to prepare a military reform plan, including changes to management, personnel training, discipline, and safety measures. On September 27, he gave the Security Council Office and Defense Ministry ten days to submit the...

Military Deaths

Kazakhstan Orders Military Overhaul After 14 Die in Caspian Drills

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has replaced the country’s defense minister, three days after 14 servicemen were killed during military exercises in the Caspian Sea. Tokayev appointed Aidos Myrzakhmetov to lead the ministry, ordered a broad inspection of the Defense Ministry, and gave officials ten days to prepare a military reform plan. Dauren Kosanov, who had held the role since June 2025, was dismissed on September 27. On the same day, Tokayev appointed Myrzakhmetov and introduced him at a meeting of senior Defense Ministry officials. Myrzakhmetov, 45, is a career officer who spent much of his career in the State Guard Service before being appointed commander of the Armed Forces’ Special Operations Forces in January 2024. He graduated from the National Defense University in 2025 and holds the rank of major general. [caption id="attachment_57120" align="aligncenter" width="750"] New Defense Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan meets with the President; image: Akorda[/caption] Political analyst Adil Seifullin said the appointment appeared to continue a practice of moving officers with State Guard Service experience into senior government roles where officials face difficult decisions. He said Myrzakhmetov’s combination of experience in the service and direct command of the Special Operations Forces may have been among the factors behind his selection. Tokayev set several priorities for the new minister, including reassessing the effectiveness of military spending, overhauling the command system, accelerating digitalization, and using technology instead of personnel for dangerous tasks where possible. He also said appointments to command positions should be based on experience and professional qualifications “rather than the principle of personal loyalty.” “Our army is stuck in the last century,” Tokayev said, calling for the command system to be rebuilt using international experience. The Security Council staff and Defense Ministry have ten days to prepare a phased military reform plan, which is due to be considered at a Security Council meeting in the second half of October. Tokayev specifically instructed officials not to produce another set of lengthy concepts and road maps, but to propose concrete measures. The overhaul follows the deaths of 14 servicemen during the Khazar Qorgany 2026 exercises in the Mangystau region on September 24. Seventeen servicemen were swept into the sea during a personnel landing operation from the Qaisar boat. Three were rescued, and 14 died. September 25 was declared a day of national mourning in Kazakhstan. The Interior Ministry’s military investigative department opened a criminal case over suspected negligence and violations of navigation rules. Five members of the military command were subsequently detained as suspects. These included the chief of staff and first deputy commander-in-chief of the Naval Forces, two military unit commanders, a Marine Corps company commander, and the commander of the boat. The Times of Central Asia previously reported on the tragedy and investigation, as well as the response of victims’ relatives. The tragedy also raised questions about how the landing operation itself was organized. Azerbaijani military expert and reserve colonel Shair Ramaldanov said that, as he understood it, the Qaisar normally carried a crew of four...

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...