On June 3, a criminal court in the Nurobod district of Samarkand region considered the case of 29-year-old citizen O.O., who fought on the Russian side in the Russia-Ukraine war. According to court documents, in September 2025, while serving a sentence in a correctional facility in Russia's Novosibirsk region, O.O. signed a military contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense, motivated by prospects of early release, Russian citizenship, and material gain.
According to the investigation, he was recruited into the Russian Armed Forces on September 13, 2025. He subsequently served as a rifleman-driver in a military unit in the Volgograd region, underwent combat training in the Rostov region, and participated in military operations against Ukraine.
In court, O.O. stated that he first went to Russia for work in 2016, working briefly in construction and trade before returning to Uzbekistan when his visa expired. In May 2021, he went to Russia again for work. While working in private construction in the Moscow region, he was detained by individuals in civilian clothes in February 2022.
According to O.O., he was charged with a murder committed in 2016. "In August 2016, a murder occurred at the greenhouse where I worked, and I was accused of committing it," he said. A Russian court subsequently sentenced him to 16 years in prison, and he was sent to correctional facility No. 14 in the Novosibirsk region.
The defendant claimed that in September 2025, representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense came to the colony and actively recruited inmates to participate in the war in Ukraine. "They offered non-ethnic Russian inmates participation in the Russia-Ukraine war. Participants were promised 1 million Russian rubles (about $12,800), Russian citizenship, release from punishment upon contract completion, and land in the Moscow region," O.O. said.
He stated that he signed the contract to escape the harsh conditions of the colony, avoid serving the remainder of his sentence, and avoid additional liability. "I signed the documents to get out of the harsh conditions in the correctional facility. To avoid serving the rest of my sentence and to get rid of them, I enlisted in the war on Russia's side," he said.
According to O.O.'s testimony, on September 13, 2025, he signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense and was provided with military uniforms. "When we reached Rostov, I escaped with a guy from Andijan," he said. They fled from a military barracks in the Rostov region, went to a construction site where Uzbek workers gave them civilian clothes, and then contacted the Uzbek embassy in Rostov to obtain a certificate for return to Uzbekistan.
"On September 29, I was given a certificate to return to Uzbekistan. I returned on October 8. I sincerely repent for what I did and ask the court for leniency," the defendant said. According to court documents, O.O. fully confessed to his guilt. His guilt was also confirmed by witness testimony and other evidence in the case.
Witness G.N. testified in court that O.O. returned from Russia at the end of October 2025 with a certificate for return. In a conversation, O.O. said he was serving a 16-year sentence in Russia and then agreed to participate in the war against Ukraine in exchange for release from the remainder of his sentence. He also said he attempted to escape from a military training ground in Rostov or Donetsk, was caught, then escaped again and obtained documents for return through Uzbekistan's diplomatic mission.
The court was informed that on December 10, 2025, the Novosibirsk military commandant's office of the Russian Ministry of Defense sent a search request to the Uzbek side, stating that O.O. had deserted from military unit No. 46371. Later, the Russian military commandant's office provided the contract and attached documents.
The court found O.O. guilty under Part 1 of Article 154 of the Uzbek Criminal Code (Mercenarism). In sentencing, the court considered the defendant's full confession, remorse, positive character reference from his place of residence, and family situation as mitigating circumstances. No aggravating circumstances were found.
The court concluded that these circumstances significantly reduced the social danger of the crime, and considering that local community activists had vouched for the defendant, deemed it possible to reform him without isolation from society. Applying Article 57 of the Criminal Code (Imposition of a More Lenient Punishment), the court imposed a punishment not provided for by the sanction: 4 years of restriction of freedom.
According to the verdict, O.O. will serve the sentence at his residence in the Nurobod district of Samarkand region and is prohibited from leaving his home. Additionally, he is obligated not to change his residence without permission from the probation service and not to leave the Samarkand region. Supervision is assigned to the probation department of the Nurobod district police. Upon the verdict entering into force, the preventive measure of a written undertaking not to leave will be canceled.
Source: www.gazeta.uz