A citizen of Uzbekistan has been sentenced for serving in the Russian army.

A 39-year-old Uzbek man, whose name has not been disclosed, signed a contract in June 2023 in Moscow, where he arrived in search of seasonal work, writes "Gazeta.uz". According to the terms of the contract, he was offered 450,000 rubles per month as "combat pay," the defendant reported. However, he only received two payments of 150,000 rubles each before the payments stopped.

The Uzbek participated in battles in Shakhtarsk and Bakhmut and, according to him, "killed more than 10 Ukrainian soldiers." In December 2023, he returned to Uzbekistan, where he voluntarily surrendered to law enforcement authorities. The court considered his confession as a mitigating circumstance.

• The authorities of Central Asian countries have repeatedly warned citizens about the criminal liability for participating in the war in Ukraine on any side. In November, a court in the Fergana region sentenced a local resident to five years in a penal colony for serving in the Russian army under contract; in October, a resident of the Samarkand region received three years for a similar charge. In September, a court in Tashkent sentenced a mercenary from the Wagner Group to restricted freedom. He did not manage to participate in the war but did take part in the mutiny of the PMC and the march on Moscow.
• There have been numerous reports that Russian authorities are recruiting migrants to participate in the war in Ukraine, threatening them with deportation or other punishments while, conversely, promising Russian citizenship for signing a contract.