Tashkent Court Sentences Uzbek Citizen to 5 Years in Prison in Mercenarism Case

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — A criminal court in Tashkent has sentenced a 45-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan after finding him guilty of mercenarism, according to case materials.

According to court documents, the man left for Russia in 2016 for work and remained employed in various regions until 2022. Later, while in Moscow and staying at a shelter for homeless people, he signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation to participate in military operations in Ukraine. He was promised a payment of 2.1 million rubles for his service.

After completing military training, he was deployed to a combat zone as a rifleman. During his service, he sustained shrapnel injuries to his head and back following a drone strike and received treatment at a military hospital in Rostov-on-Don. He later left the hospital and returned to Moscow, where he took on various jobs.

In November 2025, he was detained by Russian law enforcement for violating residency rules and was deported to Uzbekistan. He arrived in Tashkent in January 2026.

The investigation was initiated after a complaint filed by his sister with law enforcement authorities. She alleged that her brother had participated in hostilities within the Russian army and had threatened her and her children after returning. She also provided a photograph of the man in military uniform holding a firearm. An expert examination confirmed that the individual in the image was the defendant.

During the trial, the defendant denied taking part in combat operations, claiming he had been “held by Roma people in forced labor” in Krasnodar region and later worked as a shepherd and laborer in Chechnya, where the photograph was allegedly taken.

The sister also testified that since 2020 he had repeatedly made threats against family members and attempted to force them to vacate their home after returning to Tashkent, often while intoxicated and previously subject to administrative penalties.

The court found the defendant guilty based on witness statements, photographic and expert evidence, and other materials.

He was convicted under Part 1 of Article 154 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan (mercenarism) and sentenced to five years in a general-regime penal colony.