On July 8, the criminal court of Baliqchi district in Andijan region heard the case of 23-year-old citizen N.U., who was recruited into the Russian Armed Forces to participate in the Russia-Ukraine war. According to court documents reviewed by Gazeta, N.U. traveled to Moscow in September 2021 as a labor migrant and worked at a car dealership.

In August 2022, he was detained on suspicion of drug trafficking, and in September 2023, the Bryansk Regional Court found him guilty and sentenced him to nine years in prison. While serving his sentence, in August 2025, he signed a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry in Bryansk. N.U. claimed he was tricked into signing the contract, believing it was an extension of his time in solitary confinement.

After signing, he was issued a military ID and enlisted as a private. He was sent to Luhansk, where he underwent 12 days of combat training at a military range, learning weapons handling and first aid.

However, N.U. decided to desert. On September 9, 2025, he fled the field camp in Luhansk with two companions. They hid in a house of an elderly man in a village on the outskirts of Luhansk for about three months. Later, they moved to Belgorod, and after his companions left, N.U. contacted his brother in Uzbekistan, who sent him $2,500.

With this money, N.U. reached Moscow, stayed in rented apartments for a few days, then bought an online ticket from Domodedovo to Tashkent and returned to Uzbekistan on January 15, 2026. In court, he fully confessed and expressed remorse.

The court found N.U. guilty under Part 1 of Article 154 of the Uzbek Criminal Code (Mercenarism). Considering his confession, remorse, lack of prior convictions, family situation, and the circumstances of the crime, the court applied Article 57 (Imposition of a lighter sentence). He was sentenced to two years and six months of correctional labor with 20% of his salary deducted to state revenue.

Source: www.gazeta.uz