A criminal court in the Pap District of Namangan Region sentenced a 55-year-old Uzbek citizen to three years in prison for participating in the special military operation (SMO) conducted by Russia in Ukraine. Uznews.uz reported this, citing the court’s press service.
According to case materials, the man went to Russia for work in August 2022, where he found himself in difficult financial circumstances. He voluntarily signed a one-year contract with the Russian Defense Ministry. On June 5, 2023, he was enlisted in a military unit as a rifleman and was paid 210,000 rubles per month.
During his service, he took part in combat operations in Ukraine’s Kharkiv Region. On August 5, 2023, he was wounded in an explosion and sent for treatment to a military hospital in Russia’s Belgorod Region. After recovering, he returned to service.
When his contract expired in June 2024, he was sent to a Defense Ministry rehabilitation center. In February 2025, he received Russian citizenship and was soon afterward awarded the Zhukov Medal. Established in 2010, the award is presented to servicemen “for bravery, dedication, and personal courage shown in combat while defending the Fatherland and the state interests of the Russian Federation, for special distinction in combat service and duty, and for participation in exercises and maneuvers and strong performance in combat training.”
On August 28, the man returned to Uzbekistan, and on September 3 he was summoned to the Pap district department for coordination of internal affairs. There, he reported his participation in combat. His mobile phone was confiscated, and its memory contained photographs of his military ID, service certificates, reports, and images of the medal and its documentation.
In court, the defendant fully admitted guilt, confirmed the circumstances presented in the case, and expressed remorse, citing difficult financial conditions and a dependent family. The court found him guilty under Part 1 of Article 154 (“Mercenarism”) of Uzbekistan’s Criminal Code and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment in a general-regime penal colony.
ℹ️ Fergana has repeatedly reported on criminal cases in Uzbekistan under the article on mercenarism. Some defendants have received prison terms, while others were sentenced to restricted liberty. In November 2025, Uzbekistan’s State Security Service reported that since 2022, 338 criminal cases had been opened in the country over citizens’ participation in armed conflicts abroad.
