A 22-year-old Uzbek citizen identified as U.X. has been sentenced in the Jomboy district of Samarkand region for participating in the Russia-Ukraine war on the Russian side. According to court documents, he went to Russia in 2021 for work and was later sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison for drug trafficking, serving his sentence in a colony in the Chelyabinsk region.
During the court hearing, the defendant's mother N.T. testified that in July 2022, her son was arrested in Moscow after drugs were found in the car he was traveling in. On November 30, 2022, a court sentenced him to 7 years and 6 months of imprisonment.
According to court documents, while serving his sentence, in order to gain early release and for material benefits, U.X. signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense in July 2024 and was recruited into the Russian armed forces to participate in hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. In court, U.X. stated: "I signed the contract to be released and return home."
The defendant's mother claimed that her son faced pressure and torture in the colony, and that prisoners were forced to sign contracts to go to war. "We talked once a month. My son said he was subjected to various tortures in the colony and that they were forced to sign a one-year contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense to go to the Russia-Ukraine war. I warned him not to sign the contract," N.T. testified.
After signing the contract, U.X. was taken to a military training ground in Donetsk, where he underwent over 30 days of military training and then participated in combat operations against Ukraine in the Donetsk region. He was wounded in an airstrike by the Ukrainian Air Force. According to his mother, he was wounded several times in his legs and arms and treated in military hospitals.
Later, he was discharged from the hospital and returned to Uzbekistan on December 5, 2025, after his mother bought him a ticket on the Vnukovo-Samarkand flight. In court, U.X. pleaded guilty, expressed remorse, and asked for leniency.
The defendant was found guilty under Part 1 of Article 154 (Mercenarism) of the Criminal Code, and with the application of Article 57 (Imposition of a lighter sentence), he was sentenced to 5 years of restriction of freedom. He will serve the sentence at his place of residence, with a ban on leaving his home except for work and returning. Additional restrictions include not changing his residence without permission from the Jomboy district police and not leaving Samarkand region.
Earlier, a 53-year-old citizen who fought on Russia's side in Ukraine was sentenced to 2 years in Fergana. The "I Want to Live" project identified 4,853 Uzbek citizens fighting in the Russian army, the highest rate in Central Asia.
Source: www.gazeta.uz