A Kazakh officer has found the burial place of his great-grandfather, who died in 1943 in Belarus. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
Major Kazybek Seidakhmet had spent many years trying to find out where his grandfather Mukhamedzhan Zhylkybayev was buried. According to the Belarusian Ministry of Defense, the family knew he had died in 1943 on the territory of present-day Belarus (specifically, in the Vitebsk region) during a battle, but the exact burial site remained unknown.
In October 2026, before departing for CSTO exercises, the officer asked his Belarusian colleagues for help. The servicemen reviewed archival data and identified the burial place of the Red Army soldier.
The Kazakh major was able to personally visit his grandfather's (great-grandfather's) grave and pay his respects. "This is not just an exercise, but also an opportunity to establish a spiritual connection with my family's history and my great-grandfather's feat," the major said, thanking his Belarusian colleagues for their assistance.