"I injured myself with a grenade to leave the war." Freedom of a citizen who fought in Ukraine in the Tashkent region was restricted for 4 years

“I injured myself with a grenade to escape the war.” A citizen who participated in the fighting in Ukraine has had his freedom restricted for 4 years in the Tashkent region.

On July 14, the criminal case of a 38-year-old citizen named T.A., who fought on the side of Russia in the Russia-Ukraine war, was considered in the Okkurgan district criminal court of the Tashkent region. Gazeta reported this after reviewing the court documents.

According to court documents, T.A. left for Russia in September 2018 to work. Later, he was found guilty of a drug-related crime by the Kostroma regional court of Russia and sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison in March 2021. He completed his sentence on August 27, 2025.

According to the case materials, T.A. in pursuit of material or other personal gain, joined the Russian Armed Forces as a mercenary in September 2025 and fought on the side of Russia in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

According to court documents, T.A. was detained on March 20, 2026 and was placed under arrest as a precautionary measure.

According to the case materials, this case was revealed on March 17, 2026 during a monitoring exercise conducted by officers of the Buka District Internal Affairs Department and the State Security Service to identify individuals who had been recruited by foreign law enforcement agencies and participated in hostilities.

**“In prison, they repeatedly offered to join the Russian army”**

T.A. partially pleaded guilty in court.

According to him, in September 2018, due to financial difficulties, he went to Russia to work and worked in construction in Moscow. Later, in July 2020, he was arrested on charges related to drug trafficking and sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison.

The defendant said that while he was serving his sentence in a penal institution in Kostroma, prison operatives began to offer prisoners to participate in the war in Ukraine as part of the Russian army.

“At first, I did not agree to this. They offered it many times. In return, they promised to release him, cancel his sentence, grant him Russian citizenship and pay him 1 million rubles. Many agreed because of this,” he said.

He claimed that after he did not accept the offer, he was subjected to various pressures.

“They threw him in prisons. This kind of treatment was mainly directed at Muslims and stateless persons. I later agreed because I was tortured,” the defendant said.

**“After two weeks of training, they sent me to Lugansk”**

T.A. said that in late August - early September 2025, the Russian Ministry of Defense again offered him to participate in hostilities on the Russian side. In exchange, he was told that his sentence would be canceled.

According to him, after agreeing, he was sent to the Voronezh region, where he signed a military contract. Then he was given military uniforms and weapons and sent to the Lugansk region of Ukraine.

According to the defendant, he and other newly recruited servicemen underwent two weeks of training in the use of weapons and combat operations.

After that, they were distributed to protected areas. According to T.A., he was tasked with protecting a designated area and preventing the enemy from passing through. He performed this task for 10 days.

**“I tried to escape, then I injured myself with a grenade”**

The defendant said that he tried to escape seven days after the start of hostilities, but was captured.

“When I couldn’t escape, I injured myself with a hand grenade. My goal was to leave the war zone and return home,” he said.

According to him, he was first treated in the Luhansk region, then in other hospitals. Then he was sent to a hospital in Moscow, and from there he applied to the Uzbek embassy and received a certificate of return to his homeland, since his identity document had expired.

T.A. said that he returned to Uzbekistan on November 30, 2025.

The defendant stressed that he did not join the Russian army of his own free will, but only agreed after being released from prison, given Russian citizenship, and promised money.

According to him, 400 thousand rubles were transferred to his bank card for his participation in the war, as well as a monthly salary of 245 thousand rubles. After being injured, he received 500 thousand rubles when he was hospitalized and spent part of this money to return to Uzbekistan.

“My main goal in participating in military operations was to be released. Now I sincerely regret my actions,” he said and asked the court to grant leniency.

When sentencing T.A., the court took into account his partial confession to guilt, sincere remorse for his actions, the fact that he committed the crime in a difficult situation, his family situation, the fact that he has two minor children in his care, a positive description of his place of residence, and the provision of letters of guarantee from the mahalla as mitigating circumstances.

At the same time, the court considered T.A.’s previous convictions as aggravating circumstances.

The decision states that the court found that T.A. committed the crime while under the control of the administration of the penal institution, his family situation, the presence of two minor children and other mitigating circumstances were factors that significantly reduced the level of social danger of the crime and concluded that it was possible to morally correct him without separating him from society.

On this basis, the court found T.A. guilty under Part 1 of Article 154 of the Criminal Code (Recruitment) and applied Article 57 (Imposition of a more lenient sentence).

As a result, he was sentenced to 4 years of restriction of liberty. According to the court decision, he cannot leave his place of residence in the Nishan district of the Kashkadarya region outside of working hours, as well as the time necessary to get to and from work.

Also, in accordance with Article 62 of the Criminal Code, 116 days of T.A.'s imprisonment from March 20 to July 14, 2026 were credited to the term of sentence. As a result, he was suspended from serving a sentence of 3 years, 8 months and 6 days of restriction of liberty.

The court also imposed a number of additional obligations on the convict. He was obliged not to visit entertainment venues such as cafes, bars, restaurants and nightclubs, not to participate in public events, not to change his place of residence and not to leave the territory of Uzbekistan without the consent of the probation authority, not to establish contact with previously convicted persons, and not to consume alcoholic beverages.

The execution of the sentence is supervised by the Probation Department of the Nishon District Internal Affairs Department.