RFE/RL's Kazakh Service has sent us this Ukraine-related item from Aqtobe:
Trial Begins For Kazakh Citizen Suspected Of Fighting Alongside Separatists In Ukraine
The trial of a Kazakh citizen suspected of fighting alongside Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine started in Kazakhstan on October 24.
Maksim Yermolov, who attended his trial in the northwestern city of Aqtobe, pleaded not guilty.
Yermolov, an ethnic Russian, was detained in February 2015 after returning to Kazakhstan from Ukraine's Donetsk region, where he allegedly fought alongside pro-Russia separatists who are battling Ukrainian government forces.
Yermolov was charged with "taking part in military conflicts abroad" and ordered not to leave the city of Aqtobe.
He was placed in pre-trial detention after he failed to attend his trial twice.
Kazakhstan jailed at least two Kazakh citizens for fighting against Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine from 2014 to 2015.
Four Kazakh citizens were also convicted during that period of inciting separatism and ethnic hatred on the Internet in connection with Ukraine's conflict.