19-Year-Old Uzbek Citizen Sentenced in Bekabad for Participation in Armed Conflict in Ukraine

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The Bekabad District Criminal Court considered the case of 19-year-old Uzbek citizen D.Kh., who was found guilty of mercenary activity.

According to the case materials, in May 2025, the young man traveled to Russia for work, where he met an individual named Akbar via the Telegram messenger, who offered him involvement in transporting psychotropic substances.

In August, D.Kh. was detained by law enforcement during a drug delivery. A criminal case was opened against him, and he was placed in pre-trial detention. While in the detention facility, he was offered to sign a military contract, being persuaded that it would help him avoid a life sentence.

After signing the contract, D.Kh. was sent to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, where he underwent combat training and served as a tank loader. He received a salary during this period. Later, he was diagnosed with appendicitis and sent to a military hospital, from which he escaped after nine days.

Upon reaching Moscow, he contacted the Embassy of Uzbekistan to obtain a “Certificate for Return to the Homeland” and returned to Uzbekistan in November 2025.

The court found that D.Kh. had maintained an Instagram account where he posted photos of himself in Russian military uniform with weapons and equipment, as well as religious nasheeds in Arabic and Russian.

The Bekabad District Court found him guilty under Part 1, Article 154 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan (“Mercenary Activity”) and sentenced him to five years of imprisonment in a general-regime colony.