In Uzbekistan, a 22-year-old student received a suspended sentence for participating in the conflict.

The name of the accused has not been disclosed. In court, he recounted that in 2021, he enrolled in a private university in Moscow, and in the summer of 2023, he was detained due to a lack of documents and taken to the police. "There, I was informed that I would be deported from Russia, a criminal case would be initiated against me, and I was offered an alternative – to join the army, for which they promised to grant me Russian citizenship. I voluntarily agreed," – quotes him as saying to "Current Time."

In August, he reported to the draft office based on a summons issued by the police, where he signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense. After that, he claims he was sent to a military unit in the city of Tolyatti, and after a month and a half of military training, on October 10, 2023, he was deployed to the front.

"On October 13, 2023, we were sent to participate in combat operations in the city of Luhansk. I fought there for four months, and on February 10, 2024, we were transferred to the Donetsk region. Due to injuries sustained during combat, I underwent treatment in a hospital in Donetsk until February 26, 2024," – he explained.

According to him, after his treatment, he returned to his military unit in Tolyatti, bought a car, and took out a mortgage on an apartment in Tolyatti (under the contract, his monthly salary was 195,000 rubles). He was awarded a medal and granted Russian citizenship. However, he stated that after he left to register his car, his commander called him and began to insult him. Because of this, he decided to terminate his contract and returned to Uzbekistan in his car, the man declared.

A resident of the Kushtypinsky district is not the first individual convicted in Uzbekistan for participating in the war against Ukraine. In September 2024, an Uzbek citizen serving in the "Wagner" private military company was sentenced to four years of restriction of freedom, and in October, another citizen of Uzbekistan received three years of imprisonment at home for participating in the war on the side of Russia.

Numerous reports have emerged stating that Russian authorities are recruiting migrants to participate in the war in Ukraine, threatening them with deportation or other penalties, while conversely promising Russian citizenship for signing a contract.