Andijan Court Sentences Uzbek Citizen for Mercenary Activity

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The Oltynkul District Criminal Court in the Andijan region sentenced 27-year-old Uzbek citizen Kh. G. to three years in prison for mercenary activity, according to court documents from the case.

The defendant traveled to Russia in December 2022 to seek employment and worked as a courier in Kostroma. In May 2023, he was arrested after drugs were discovered in energy drinks he was transporting, and a Russian court subsequently sentenced him to six years in prison in August 2023.

According to testimony provided by the defendant, he faced physical and psychological pressure while serving his sentence in Russia. In 2025, he signed a contract with the Russian Armed Forces and was transferred alongside other inmates to a military unit in the Voronezh region.

The defendant stated that he was promised 3 million Russian rubles for signing the contract, but received 400,000 Russian rubles in practice. Following initial preparation, he was deployed with other servicemen to the Luhansk region, where he underwent 21 days of military training before participating in active combat operations as part of an assault company.

In December 2025, a drone detonated near him, causing severe head injuries that led to his evacuation to a military hospital in the Moscow region. He testified that he received monthly payments of 205,000 Russian rubles for participating in combat. Prior to his hospitalization, he recovered his Uzbek passport after citing the need to process compensation for his combat injuries.

In January 2026, Kh. G. requested permission to leave the hospital under the pretext of purchasing personal items. He then traveled to Domodedovo Airport, bought a ticket, and flew to Tashkent that same day.

He was subsequently detained by internal affairs officers in Andijan. Authorities recovered materials confirming his participation in military operations from his mobile phone and submitted them to the court.

During the trial, the defendant pleaded fully guilty and requested leniency. The court found Kh. G. guilty under Part 1 of Article 154 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan (mercenarism) and sentenced him to serve three years in a general-regime penal colony.