A court in Uzbekistan sentenced a country's citizen, who served in the Russian army, to 4 years and 2 months of restriction of freedom. The convict was deployed in Ukraine's Bakhmut region, where Moscow's forces committed numerous war crimes. He admitted to killing more than 10 Ukrainian soldiers.
The 39-year-old Uzbekistani traveled to Moscow for work in the spring of 2023, and decided to enlist in the Russian army in June 2023 - tempted by the promise of a salary of EUR 4.500 per month. He received only EUR 3.000 for his entire service though.
On December 31, 2023, the man returned to Uzbekistan and voluntarily surrendered to law enforcement authorities. The court took this into account - and sentenced him to 4 years and 2 months of restriction of freedom - with the regularly applicable punishment for such mercenary activities ranging from 5 to 10 years of prison, as per Uzbekistan's law.
Under the sentence, the convict is prohibited from leaving his place of residence except for work or study, from changing his residence without permission from supervisory authorities, and from traveling outside the Andijan region.
This is not the country's first case of this kind - Uzbekistan's courts have already imposed similar sentences thrice.
Since Russia began its illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian services have been regularly forcing economic migrants to sign contracts with the army - blackmailing them with physical and economic violence, incarceration and deportation.
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Source: IAR, PAP, EuroMaidanPress, UKRinform