Uzbekistan Opens 338 Cases on Mercenarism Over Four Years

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Since 2022, Uzbekistan has opened 338 criminal cases related to citizens’ participation in armed conflicts outside the country, according to the documentary “Uzokdan Izlangan Bakht” produced by the State Security Service (SSS).

The SSS reports that law enforcement agencies record hundreds of instances each year of citizens being involved in religious-extremist and international terrorist organizations, as well as participating in foreign military formations as mercenaries.

The documentary emphasizes that Uzbek citizens today have broad opportunities to earn legally both domestically and abroad, including through joint ventures with foreign partners. Currently, more than 1.8 million Uzbeks work abroad, yet hundreds each year are found to join armed conflicts outside the country.

The dynamics of cases under Article 154 of the Criminal Code (mercenarism) show a steady increase: 19 cases were opened in 2022, 68 in 2023, 112 in 2024, and 139 in 2025. Over four years, the number of cases has grown more than sevenfold.

Sanctions under Part 1 of Article 154 of the Criminal Code provide for imprisonment from five to ten years, while Part 2—which covers recruitment, training, financing, or using mercenaries in armed conflicts—carries penalties of seven to twelve years’ imprisonment.

One participant in an armed conflict described the harsh reality of combat: “You go into a firefight, people fall around you, blood is flowing, and in one moment you lose a leg. They treat people like dogs there. They don’t understand they’re serving someone else’s interests.”

Analysis of the cases shows that the vast majority of those involved were deceived into military conflicts or sent to combat zones after contacts with criminal structures. Only in rare cases did participation occur for material gain.