In Aktau, a serviceman from military unit No. 25744 beat new recruits on the head with a stool and a truncheon. A criminal case was opened against him, but it was later discontinued due to a reconciliation between the parties.
According to the Aktobe-based publication ‘Diapazon’, the case against the commander of the 1st platoon of the mortar battery of the 2nd assault battalion involved several incidents.
“He lined up the new recruits and began hitting one of them on the head with a wooden truncheon, asking if the soldier knew his surname. The young soldier gave the wrong surname, for which he received several more blows from his commander,” the report says.
It is also reported that several other conscripts received blows from the truncheon at the hands of their commander.
“In another case, he punched a soldier in the face for being late to formation. He later delivered several blows to the same soldier's head with a stool, allegedly because the private had sworn during training sessions. After these blows, the recruit grabbed his head, but the commander did not stop and continued beating him with his fists and feet. He also broke part of another soldier's tooth with his fist at the training ground,” the publication reports.
Despite this, the injured servicemen ‘forgave’ the accused and wrote a statement saying they had no complaints. The accused, for his part, told the court that he admitted his guilt and agreed to the reconciliation. As a result, the Military Court of the Aktobe Garrison terminated the criminal case due to the reconciliation of the parties.
Aktau's military unit No. 25744 has long had a ‘bad reputation’. For example, in September 2015, during a naval exercise, four servicemen from this unit drowned.
In May 2022, the command of unit No. 25744 noticed strange behaviour in a conscript. He showed an inexplicable reaction to his surroundings and talked to himself. After he was returned to his family, his parents stated that “he doesn't recognise anyone, doesn't know where he is or what he is doing”.
Furthermore, in September 2023, a 20-year-old serviceman from unit No. 25744 died at a training ground. After an explosion of an unknown substance, he sustained various injuries and died on the way to the hospital. Meanwhile, it was previously reported that 13 soldiers from unit No. 25744 in Aktau were accused of stealing fuel and lubricants worth more than 55 million tenge – stealing from sergeants up to colonels. Later, those convicted received sentences ranging from three and a half to eight years in prison.