Kazakhstan's Ministry of Defense has denied information circulating on social media that Kazakh military equipment allegedly failed to return from Russia after joint exercises of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, infohub.kz reports.
Earlier, claims appeared on social media that Kazakhstan's military equipment had allegedly not returned from Russia after the alliance's exercises.
"From September 24 to October 3, military exercises were held under the CSTO. As of October 7, the military equipment has not returned to Kazakhstan. Is this direct military assistance, or is it state treason?" user illuminati_kz wrote on Threads.
In the comments under the post, the Defense Ministry's press service responded: "The information that weapons and military equipment of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan involved in the CSTO exercise 'Vzaimodeistvie' on the territory of the Russian Federation allegedly did not return to their permanent deployment points does not correspond to reality."
It also clarified that after the exercises ended, the military equipment was returned to its permanent deployment locations on October 6, 2026.
The Ministry of Defense reminded of the liability under the law for spreading knowingly false information. In this regard, Kazakhstanis were urged not to spread fakes.
The 'Vzaimodeistvie-2026' exercises were held together with the special exercises 'Poisk-2026' and 'Eshelon-2026' at the Chebarkulsky training ground in Russia's Chelyabinsk region. The official opening took place on September 27, and the active phase ended on October 3.
They involved military personnel from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. In total, about 2,000 servicemen and 350 units of weapons, military and special equipment were involved.
Recall that a large-scale audit of the effectiveness of budget spending is currently underway at Kazakhstan's Ministry of Defense. The inspection covers 50 facilities, including 48 military units.
The audit began after the deaths of 14 Kazakh servicemen during exercises in the Caspian Sea on September 24. After the tragedy, President Qasym-Jomart Toqaev ordered a comprehensive review of the state of affairs at the Ministry of Defense, including in the area of financial and logistical support for military units.