“Only three of us out of 64 Uzbeks survived” – The story of a man recruited into the Russian army
A 38-year-old man from Kitob worked as a "courier" (drug dropper) in the city of Moscow and was sentenced to 7 years in prison on drug charges. While serving his sentence, he was offered to enlist in the Russian army and participate in the war against Ukraine. In court, the man stated that out of 64 Uzbeks sent to the military training ground, only three managed to escape and survive, while all the others died.
"Only three of us out of 64 Uzbeks survived" – The story of a man recruited into the Russian army
In Qashqadaryo, a criminal penalty was imposed on a person recruited into the Russian army.
According to the court verdict, 38-year-old A.N. reportedly went to Russia in December 2022 to work and earn money. He initially worked at construction sites in Saint Petersburg and then headed to Moscow.
In Moscow, A.N. met a person named Suhrob via Telegram and, on his instructions, engaged in delivering psychotropic substances based on geolocation. On January 14, 2023, Suhrob sent him the geolocation of a place where 20 psychotropic tablets were located and ordered him to deliver them to a person named Bunyod. A.N. was detained on that very day while carrying out the task.
Thus, he was accused of a drug crime and sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment by a court decision. He began serving his sentence in Penal Colony No. 5 in the city of Tambov.
During his sentence, he was offered to participate in the war against Ukraine. A.N. stated that he could not withstand the torture in the colony and was forced to sign a contract.
"The colony staff tortured us, locked us in punishment cells for no reason, kept us awake at night, and forced us to participate in the war against Ukraine on Russia's side. In addition, they deliberately served food prepared with pork and lard. Unable to withstand this torture, I signed the contract in September 2025," A.N. said in his testimony.
After that, he was taken from the colony to a field training site. He participated in military training sessions for 30 days. At the end of October 2025, he escaped from the training ground with several people and went to Moscow.
A.N. contacted the embassy to return to Uzbekistan. Embassy staff told him that the certificate of return to the homeland would be ready in 7 days. However, without waiting for 7 days, A.N. had a fake certificate of return prepared through his acquaintances. On November 11, 2025, his certificate of return was found to be fake at the airport in Novosibirsk. After that, he was held in a temporary detention facility in Novosibirsk until May 25, 2026.
"They investigated me from November 11, 2025, to May 25, 2026. Since they had sent me from the penal colony to the training ground without registering any documents, thinking I would die in the war, no documents regarding my imprisonment and deployment to the war were found. Then they deported me and sent me to Uzbekistan. Out of 64 Uzbek guys who were forcibly sent to the training ground to participate in the war, only three of us escaped and survived; all the rest died," he said.