Kazakhstan is continuing its pretrial investigation into the Caspian Sea tragedy that claimed the lives of 14 conscripts, with six officials responsible for organizing and conducting naval exercises now remanded in custody by court order, while investigators are examining the involvement of other senior figures, infohub.kz reports.
The Interior Ministry of the Republic of Kazakhstan told a NUR.KZ correspondent that an interagency operational-investigative team led by the military investigation department is conducting the pretrial probe into the emergency in Aktau.
The criminal case is being investigated under the articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan covering "Negligent performance of duties" and "Violation of navigation rules."
"As part of the pretrial investigation, a preventive measure in the form of detention has been applied by court order against six officials responsible for organizing and conducting the naval exercises," the ministry said in its response to a request.
The Interior Ministry added that a full set of investigative and operational-search measures is now being carried out in the case. They are aimed at establishing all the circumstances of what happened, as well as the causes and conditions that contributed to the consequences.
"The involvement of other officials is also being examined. Based on the results of the pretrial investigation, the actions of all officials involved in the planning, organization and conduct of the naval exercises will be given a proper legal assessment in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan," the ministry added.
The press service stressed that other details of the pretrial investigation are not subject to disclosure.
Recall that on September 24, during the performance of a combat training task, 17 service members were swept into the Caspian Sea due to a sudden and sharp deterioration in weather conditions and gusty winds; 14 of them died. Three were rescued.
After the tragedy, Dauran Kosanov was dismissed as defense minister. Aidos Myrzakhmetov was appointed in his place.
Kanat Niyazbekov previously held the post of commander-in-chief of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan. He also lost his position, which he had held since August 2025.
There were also reports of the detention of five senior command officials of the Ministry of Defense. Among them were the chief of staff — first deputy commander-in-chief of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan, two military unit commanders, and the commanders of a marine corps company and a boat.
The Interior Ministry did not rule out that there could be more detainees in the case of the Caspian tragedy. Former commander-in-chief of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kanat Niyazbekov was soon detained.