You're reading: RFE/RL: Kazakh citizen faces trial for joining Russia-backed separatists in Donbas

The trial of a Kazakh citizen who fought alongside Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine has started in Kazakhstan’s central city of Qaraghandy.

The 31-year-old defendant, whose identity the court ordered not to be released by media, pleaded guilty to “participation in an armed conflict in the foreign country” in 2015 and 2016 as the trial started on April 24.

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