On August 21, the Mirzo-Ulugbek district criminal court issued a ruling for an Uzbek national who served in the Kremlin-backed Wagner military company.
The native of Tashkent city (born in 1976) B. Z. went to work in Russia in September 2022. He explained his departure for work by the fact that he wanted to buy a larger apartment. At that time, he (the only breadwinner in the family), his disabled wife, mother, younger sister and three children - a total of seven people - lived in a one-bedroom flat, in particular, he and his wife occupied the kitchen.
The man went to the Russian Federation on the Tashkent to Novosibirsk bus service. Until May 20, 2023, he worked as a baker. Then he saw an ad for the Wagner PMC in one of the Telegram channels.
He was told that his salary would be 240 thousand rubles (2.5 thousand) if he participated in combat operations, and would also be paid 45 thousand rubles during military training for 21 days. He agreed and went to a military base in Krasnodar.
In court, the man said that he was warned: "there is no turning back, and you may die in combat." The man said that he needed the money and agreed to serve.
The terms of the contract, which was entered into for six months, stipulated that he must follow all orders during combat operations and not provide information about Wagner if the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia contacts him, and also indicate the address of the country and place of residence where the coffin and money for service should be sent after a possible death.
The man also had to provide the number of family members and their places of residence.
After signing the contract, they confiscated his phone and personal belongings, gave him a military uniform, entered his name into the computer and gave him a different name "B" with a T-4949 token, and also provided him with an AK-74 assault rifle.
Then they gave him instructions, explained the internal regulations of the company, ordered him not to disclose personal information to his comrades, not to ask them for this information, to address each other by code names, and not to use means of communication.
In addition, they had to shoot at their fellow soldiers if they retreated during combat, and also to help the wounded during combat. They were forbidden to drink alcohol or use drugs, or to quarrel with each other. They could be shot without warning if they pointed a gun at their comrades or commander.
According to him, they were also forbidden to communicate with civilians, not to steal their property, not to take food and other things from them. Failure to comply with these orders would result in execution. These rules were called "Wagner's Oral Golden Rules".
He lived in a tent of a military unit with 9 of his comrades. From 5 a.m. until lunch, they underwent combat training: running, taking up positions with a machine gun, sitting and lying down, learning attack tactics. After lunch, they learned to use, clean and assemble weapons, protect themselves from mines while moving, and camouflage during an attack.
The man also helped during the "march of justice" that was announced on June 23, 2023, by the founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who accused the Russian Ministry of Defense of a missile strike on the PMC camp, a mutiny against the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and a march on Moscow. Then the PMC fighters entered Rostov-on-Don and seized military and administrative facilities, after which individual parts of the group, which, according to Prigozhin, numbered 25 thousand people, moved towards Moscow and stopped 200 km from the Russian capital.
At that time, the defendant and other servicemen were helping with military supplies, delivering food and medical supplies, military uniforms and ammunition. However, since there was no order to use weapons, he did not use a machine gun.
After that, the PMC fighters retreated towards Ukraine, and then to Belarus, where they were invited by President Alexander Lukashenko.
The defendant went by bus in a military convoy to the base in Mogilev (a city in eastern Belarus). There, until September 20, he was engaged in economic affairs, and then they were transported to Podolsk. They were told that those who wished could obtain Russian citizenship and live there until their passports were ready.
However, he was told that after receiving a passport, they would be sent to serve in African countries. The man did not renew his contract, which ended early due to the death of Prigozhin on August 23, and received a salary of 467 thousand rubles (almost 60 million soums, about 5,000 dollars at the Central Bank exchange rate on that day).
On September 24, 2023, he returned to Tashkent.
The court ruling notes that he fought against Ukraine in the Luhansk region, which was renamed the Luhansk People's Republic after Russia's takeover. He also received the medal "For the Liberation of Artemovsk" from the head of the Donetsk People's Republic, which was established in the DPR at the end of May 2023.
The judge found the man guilty under Mercenarism charge (punishable by imprisonment for 5 to 10 years) and taking into account mitigating circumstances (pleading guilty and taking into account mitigating circumstances (presence of a minor child and a spouse with a disability), sentenced him to 4 years of house arrest.
He is prohibited from leaving his place of residence from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., participating in mass events, rallies, demonstrations, contacting persons prone to committing crimes, or leaving the territory of Uzbekistan.
Earlier, a court in Akhangaran found a national of Uzbekistan who joined the Wagner group guilty of mercenarism and sentenced him to 2.5 years of correctional labor with a deduction of 20% of his monthly salary for the benefit of the state.)
On November 28th the Qaraghandy regional court in central Kazakhstan sentenced a local resident, Aleksei Shompolov, to six years and eight months in prison for joining Russia’s Wagner mercenary group and fighting against Ukrainian forces in May in Bakhmut, where he was injured, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service said.
