Russian contract soldier Kamil Kasimov, who refused to fight in Ukraine, himself asked to be deported from Kazakhstan, where he lived after deserting from the army. Bes.media was informed about this by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, citing the decision of the Priozersk City Court of the Karaganda Region on the expulsion of Kasimov.
The department reported that the meeting in the Kasimov case took place on June 13, 2024 and lasted 13 minutes. The Russian military man was found guilty of evading leaving the country for more than 10 days after the expiration of the period of stay established by law (Part 4 of Article 517 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Kazakhstan). Kasimov allegedly admitted guilt and asked the court to expel him from the country. On June 19, the court decision to deport the military man was executed.
As Kazakh human rights activist Arthur Alkhastov, who helped Kasimov, pointed out, the military man lived in Astana and was abducted in April, while the court order indicated Kasimov’s place of residence as a Russian military unit in Priozersk. The lawyer believes that the deserter could have been under pressure from the Russian military and was forced to demand expulsion from Kazakhstan.
The human rights activist, having studied the court ruling, noted that during the hearing the court and the prosecutor did not react in any way to Kasimov’s statements that he had escaped from Russian troops and was being held in Priozersk. “Well, doesn’t this raise questions? Isn’t that weird? Why is he there? How did this happen? Why is he asking to be deported to Russia, where he is not safe? He himself says that he is under investigation in Russia,” Alkhastov added.
The fact that Kamil Kasimov was detained in Astana became known in May 2024. He served in the 103rd Missile Brigade of the Russian Ground Forces, stationed in Ulan-Ude. His unit was transferred to the Ukrainian border a month before the full-scale Russian invasion. According to relatives, with the beginning of the war, Kasimov was forced to enter into a new contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense for three years. Having received leave in May 2023, the serviceman went to Kazakhstan, received a residence permit and got a job in Astana.
In April 2024, Kasimov was detained by the criminal investigation department of Buryatia and taken to the closed city of Priozersk, where the Russian Ministry of Defense rents a military training ground. In August, the 40th Garrison Court, at a meeting in Omsk, sentenced Kasimov to six years in a maximum security colony under the article on desertion. It was not previously known how Kasimov left the territory of Kazakhstan.
