“Uzbek nationals make up the largest group of foreign prisoners of war in Ukraine” – Report

The “I Want to Live” state-run project, which assists Russian soldiers seeking to surrender voluntarily, stated that Russia successfully recruited at least 902 Uzbek nationals for combat in 2025.

“After we published a list of 1,110 mercenaries from Uzbekistan, an internal review began in the country regarding its citizens' participation in the war. Despite heightened criminal prosecution of mercenaries, Russia continues to intensify its recruitment efforts,” the project said.

The project noted that Russia is employing the same recruitment tactics as before – attracting Uzbek labor migrants with promises of high-paying jobs, usually in construction or rear units of the army. Recruits are also promised Russian citizenship.

According to “I Want to Live”, individuals serving sentences in Russian prisons are being pressured and coerced into joining the war effort through threats and psychological manipulation.

“Recruitment often involves blackmail – especially targeting migrants who recently acquired Russian citizenship. As a result, there are now prisoners of war from 33 countries in Ukraine, with Uzbekistan ranking first in terms of the number of foreign POWs,” the project added, though it did not specify a precise number.

“We hope the Uzbek government fully understands the situation and takes a firmer stance against Russia’s actions to protect the lives of its citizens,” the statement concluded.

The project also claimed that on 5 June 2025, an unofficial visit took place at the “Postoyalye Dvory” training ground in Kursk Oblast, Russia, involving a delegation from the Uzbek Ministry of Defense. The delegation, led by Deputy Defense Minister Colonel Alisher Narbayev, was presented with a briefing on combat training practices used by the Leningrad Military District. No further details were provided.

Uzbekistan’s Prosecutor General’s Office and Ministry of Justice have repeatedly warned that participation in armed conflicts abroad, including on behalf of third countries, is a criminal offense under national law.

According to Article 154 of Uzbekistan’s Criminal Code, recruitment for armed conflict is punishable by 5 to 10 years in prison. This applies to individuals who are not citizens or military personnel of a warring country, do not permanently reside in conflict zones, or do not act under official assignment from any state’s armed forces, but participate in armed confrontations for material or personal gain.

Under Article 154¹ of the Criminal Code, Uzbek citizens who join the military, security, police, military justice, or other similar bodies of a foreign state may face fines of up to 300 times the base calculation amount (BCA) or up to 3 years of correctional labor. Those who are recruited into military service face up to 5 years of imprisonment.

Since 2023, Uzbek courts have issued several rulings in such cases. However, sentences for recruitment have become more lenient over the past year. For instance, in October 2023, a man from Tashkent region who had fought in Ukraine on the side of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in 2014–2015 was sentenced to five years in prison. But in January 2025, an appeals court commuted the original six-year sentence of another man who fought for the DPR to a suspended sentence.

In November 2024, a 22-year-old Uzbek citizen who had fought on the Russian side in Ukraine and had received a medal and Russian citizenship was given a suspended sentence instead of five years in prison.

In December 2024, a court in Uzbekistan sentenced a 39-year-old man to 4 years and 2 months of restricted freedom for participating in the war on the Russian side. During his trial, the man claimed to have killed more than 10 Ukrainian soldiers during combat operations.