Russia Likely Testing Drones in Kazakhstan

Russia is likely using a testing ground in Kazakhstan for drone trials.

The local media ORDA reported on this.

Overall, incidents involving Russian drones in Kazakhstan have increased since February 2025: in Western Kazakhstan, fragments or whole unmanned aerial vehicles have been found five times already.

The Deputy Minister of Defense of Kazakhstan explained that this is because there is a testing ground located near the region, which Russia uses for UAV trials.

However, he did not specify which exact area was being referred to.

At the same time, questions arise. In particular, Mangystau Region, where an Iranian Arash-2 drone was recently discovered, does not border Western Kazakhstan.

It remains only to speculate what the Ministry of Defense representative meant.

One likely scenario is that drones are launched from Russia’s Astrakhan Region, cross the Caspian Sea, and then enter Kazakhstan’s airspace.

Another possibility is that the testing range is indeed located near Western Kazakhstan, within Kazakh territory.

Russian Drones Crashing in Kazakhstan

Russian propaganda has repeatedly attempted to misrepresent their own drones, which have crashed on Kazakh soil, as Ukrainian.

On February 19, a Russian reconnaissance drone, the Orlan-10, was discovered operating near oil pipeline infrastructure in Kazakhstan.

The drone was found close to a facility of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium — a joint Russian-Kazakh enterprise that manages the namesake oil pipeline.

To conceal its true origin, Russian media spread disinformation, presenting the drone as a French SAGEM Crecerelle UAV.

Later, on March 19, it was reported that a Russian kamikaze drone, the Geran-2 (Shahed-136) with the serial number “Ы18358,” had crashed on Kazakh territory.