Kazakhstan: 14 Soldiers Killed, Five Officers Arrested

The last two bodies of soldiers missing in the Caspian Sea were found Friday morning near the Kazakh city of Aktau, bringing the death toll from the military drill to 14. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Defense said the bodies of Sergeant Mansur Gumarov and Seaman Miras Turdibekuli were recovered on September 25 at around 9:15 a.m. local time (4:15 a.m. GMT), ending a search that had been underway since the previous day.

The accident happened on September 24 during the naval exercise Hazar Korgany 2026, in the Mangystau region of western Kazakhstan, 43 kilometers from Aktau. According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, the soldiers were carrying out a combat exercise and disembarking from the ship Kaisar when a sudden deterioration in the weather, with strong winds, swept them out to open water. A total of 17 servicemen were lost in the waves, and three were rescued.

The death toll varied from source to source on the first day. The Ministry of Defense’s initial statement put the number of dead at nine, while the Mangystau regional government raised that figure to 12 on Telegram, with two more servicemen still listed as missing. The official, final count of 14 dead was not released until Friday, once the last two bodies had been recovered.

The ministry described the discovery in a statement:

“Today, September 25, at around 9:15 a.m. local time, or 4:15 a.m. GMT, the bodies of two servicemen, Sergeant Mansur Gumarov and Seaman Miras Turdibekuli, who had previously been listed as missing, were found during an intensive search and rescue operation,” Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Defense said.

The ministry offered condolences to the families and comrades of the deceased. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared September 25 a national day of mourning and ordered a government commission to establish the full circumstances of the accident and assist the families of the dead. A commission headed by Defense Minister Dauren Kosanov was sent to the scene of the tragedy, and Kazakhstan’s prime minister also ordered the formation of a separate government commission to investigate the causes of the deaths in the Mangystau region.

Who are the arrested officers?

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said five senior officers from the Ministry of Defense system had been detained as part of the investigation. They include the chief of staff and first deputy commander of the navy, two commanders of military units, the commander of a naval infantry company, and the captain of the ship Kaisar. All five are treated as suspects and are being held at a police detention unit in Aktau.

The Interior Ministry explained the grounds for the arrests:

“On suspicion of committing the criminal offenses of negligent performance of duty and violation of navigation rules that led to grave consequences, the responsible senior and high ranking command officers of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan have been detained,” the ministry said.

A criminal case has been opened over negligence in service and violations of navigation rules. Investigators are examining how the exercise was organized, whether safety rules were followed, whether hydrometeorological conditions were properly assessed before the disembarkation, and what technical condition the ship Kaisar was in. The pre trial investigation is being conducted by the military investigative unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, under the special oversight of that ministry and the Republic’s Prosecutor General’s Office.

Condolences from Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his condolences to Tokayev over the deaths of the soldiers. The Caspian Sea, along whose coast the exercise took place, borders Kazakhstan, Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan, so military accidents on it typically draw attention from neighboring states as well.

No timeline has been given for when the investigation will conclude, and it remains unclear whether the charges against the five detained officers will be extended to additional figures in the chain of command.