The Uchkurgan District Court on Criminal Cases found an Uzbek citizen, E., guilty of mercenariness and sentenced him to 4 years of restriction of liberty.

In court, the defendant stated that he was forced to go to war through threats and violence. According to the verdict, the man was sentenced to 8 years in prison in 2020 in Barnaul in a drug-related case and served his sentence in a strict-regime colony in the Altai Territory.

During the recruitment of prisoners for military service, he was offered release from prison, a simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship, and financial payment in exchange for participating in the war in Ukraine. On August 25, 2025, he signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense, and after 21 days of military training, he was sent to a Russian-controlled territory in the Donetsk region.

According to the defendant, before signing the contract, he was beaten by other prisoners, and colony staff threatened him with a new criminal case and an additional prison term. He stated that he signed the documents under duress and refused to obtain Russian citizenship. The man also said that he and five other people attempted to escape from the training ground, but were caught and tortured. These details are cited in the verdict as the defendant's testimony.

On September 26, 2025, he sustained a severe injury. According to him, he was subjected to a drone attack while delivering weapons and bags of food to Russian servicemen on a motorcycle. After receiving treatment in Russian hospitals, he was brought to Yekaterinburg. Fearing that he would be sent back to the front, he fled the hospital on April 3, 2026, and turned to Uzbek diplomats. After receiving a certificate of return, he arrived in Uzbekistan on April 5. According to his testimony, he then voluntarily reported to the internal affairs bodies. In court, the man fully pleaded guilty and expressed remorse. He also stated that he did not receive the promised 2 million rubles.

The court applied Part 1 of Article 154 of the Criminal Code (mercenariness) to his actions. The verdict indicated that he participated in the war on the Russian side for the sake of release from imprisonment. An additional charge under Part 1 of Article 154¹ of the Criminal Code — entry of a citizen of Uzbekistan into the military service of a foreign state — was deemed redundant and dropped. In sentencing, the court considered the guilty plea, remorse, the commission of the crime under difficult circumstances, severe injuries, and the illness of the defendant's elderly mother as mitigating circumstances. No aggravating factors were identified.

Applying Article 57 of the Criminal Code, the court sentenced him to a lighter punishment than provided for in the article — 4 years of restriction of freedom.