How was the Uzbek citizen punished for going to Russia and joining Wagner?

On May 6 of this year, the Yangiyul City Criminal Court considered an unusual and shocking criminal case of an Uzbek citizen. The most interesting aspect of this case is that the citizen was convicted for traveling to Russia and participating in an armed conflict with Ukraine as part of the Wagner private military company. The judges announced their decisions on this case, which was considered openly at the court session.

According to the details, 50-year-old A.M. entered into a four-month contract with the Wagner company to travel to the Russian Federation from September 2022 to March 2023 and work as a militant. As part of this contract, he underwent special military training and was then sent to participate in military operations in Ukraine.

Based on the evidence and testimonies of the criminal case, it became known that citizen A.M. became interested in the advertisements of the Wagner company on social networks promising high salaries. At the same time, in order to improve his financial situation, he sold his car for 3,000 US dollars, traveled to Russia with this money, arrived at the Wagner military base in the town of Khutr Molkina in the Krasnodar region and signed a four-month contract. According to the terms of the contract, he was supposed to participate in military operations against Ukraine.

Citizen A.M. first underwent 20 days of special combat training and joined a company of 170 fighters. Then they were transported to the territory of the Ukrainian state in five buses. Here, the Uzbek citizen directly participated in military operations against the Ukrainian armed forces.

After that, he was in the war zone until the end of January 2023, participating in numerous combat operations. He recalls that during the fighting, only 24 fighters remained in the company. On February 3, 2023, the area where the militants were located was bombed with grenades by drones of the Ukrainian army, and at that time A.M. was seriously injured by fragments of a grenade that exploded near him. He was urgently taken to the hospital and quickly underwent surgery.

After being treated in the hospital for some time, A.M. returned to the military base in Krasnodar. He was paid the salary promised under the contract and was put on 45 days of leave. Thus, A.M. returned to Uzbekistan on March 14, 2023.

However, on February 11, 2025, the house where he lived was searched by officers of the Yangiyul city Internal Affairs Department with the participation of witnesses. During the search, narcotics (marijuana) and medical documents confirming his participation in military operations in Ukraine, his serious injuries and the treatment he received were found in his house.

A criminal case was initiated on this case and investigative and judicial proceedings were initiated. The prosecution charged citizen A.M. with Part 1 of Article 154 (mercenary) and Part 1 of Article 276 (participation in armed conflicts on the territory of foreign countries) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

During the trial, the accused A.M. confessed to his actions and stated that he committed this crime for economic reasons. He said that he went to Russia due to his difficult living conditions and was recruited to the Wagner Group solely to solve his financial problems. He also expressed regret for this act.

Having fully examined the available evidence in the case, as well as the testimonies of witnesses, the court found citizen A.M. guilty under the above articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan and sentenced him to 5 years and 1 month in prison.

This incident also caused a lot of discussion on social networks and became a difficult lesson for many young people. It also confirmed once again that involvement in armed conflicts in foreign countries leads to serious consequences for Uzbek citizens. This situation shows that it is necessary to draw important conclusions for Uzbek society.