A court in Uzbekistan has sentenced a man to 4 years and 2 months in prison for fighting against Ukraine on the side of Russia. He claimed to have killed more than 10 Ukrainian soldiers.
This was reported by Gazeta.uz, which reviewed the court decision.
An Uzbek citizen traveled to Moscow in April 2023 to find seasonal work. He started working at the “Novatek” oil exchange. There, he met a Russian who offered him to fight against Ukraine for a high monthly salary.
In June 2023, the man signed a six-month contract with the Russian Armed Forces, after which he was sent for two months of training at a training ground in Moscow. At that time, he was 39 years old.
The contract promised him a salary of 450 000 rubles per month — the man only received two payments of 150 000, and then they stopped paying him.
The man first fought in Shakhtarsk and Bakhmut in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. According to him, during the fighting he killed more than 10 Ukrainian soldiers. Later, the Uzbek citizen was transferred to the intelligence unit of the Russian troops — for five months he fought in Luhansk.
In December 2023, he returned to Moscow and refused to extend his contract.
On December 31, 2023, the man returned to Uzbekistan, where he voluntarily confessed to law enforcement and provided all documents. According to him, family members were partially aware of his activities.
He justifies his decision to serve in the Russian army with his "difficult financial situation" — he is the sole breadwinner in a family with three children. For this, for his appearance with a guilty plea, and also because he has no previous criminal record, his sentence was commuted.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.