Court Convicts Uzbek Citizen of Mercenary Activity

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The Kasbin District Criminal Court has found 23-year-old D.R. guilty of mercenary activity and recruiting for foreign armed forces.

According to case materials, in April 2022, D.R. traveled to Moscow to work as a taxi driver. In September of the same year, police found narcotics in his vehicle, leading to a nine-year prison sentence in March 2023 for illegal drug possession.

In October 2024, D.R. signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense, reportedly without fully understanding the documents due to limited Russian language skills, believing it to be a translation related to completing his sentence in Uzbekistan. He subsequently underwent military training and participated in combat operations until November 2025.

The defendant claimed his involvement in hostilities was coerced and that he injured his own leg to leave the unit. Following treatment and assistance from the Uzbek Embassy in Moscow, he returned home and voluntarily approached law enforcement.

The court convicted D.R. under Part 1 of Article 154 and Part 1 of Article 154-1 of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan, imposing four years of restricted freedom and two years of corrective labor. The combined penalty resulted in a total sentence of four years and one month of restricted freedom.

Additionally, D.R. is prohibited from leaving Kashkadarya Region without permission and from changing his residence.