Qoshtepa district criminal court in Fergana region on 4 November sentenced a local resident to 5 years in prison for participating in the war in Ukraine on the Russian side.
According to court documents reviewed by Gazeta.uz, 51-year old Alisher Khalikov traveled to Kyrgyzstan in May 2023. From there, he flew to Russia’s Saint Petersburg, where he lived in rented housing and worked temporary jobs until November.
Khalikov stated that a friend named Urinboy from Margilan called him, inviting to work as a baker in Saint Petersburg with a promised salary of 2,500 rubles (about $26) per sack of baked bread.
According to him, he worked as a baker for two months, but when Urinboy failed to pay him, he took a job as a loader for three months. He worked together with a man named Umid, whom he met at a supermarket, where their supervisor was Akmal from Surkhandarya region of Uzbekistan. Akmal also delayed paying their wages, giving various excuses, which prompted Khalikov to assault him. Akmal called the police, and Khalikov and Umid were taken to the police station.
A lawyer appointed to defend the two offered them to drink alcohol, which they accepted, Khalikov said in court. The lawyer explained that assaulting Akmal was a criminal offense punishable by up to 5 years in prison but suggested joining the war in Ukraine to avoid prosecution. Khalikov and Umid saw this as a way to evade punishment and signed two copies of contract provided by the police. They were issued release documents and allowed to go, Khalikov added.
On 24 November, he signed a contract with Russia’s Defense Ministry to serve for one year, agreeing to participate in combat on Russia’s side in Ukraine. Khalikov, along with 80 others, was sent to a military base named Kaminka near the Russia-Finland border, where they were watched by Russian military personnel.
A few days later, 500,000 rubles ($5,123) were transferred to his card, of which he kept 100,000 rubles and sent the remaining 400,000 to his wife in installments.
For two months, Khalikov received combat training at Kaminka, learning to use firearms and ammunition. On 24 January, he was transferred to a military training ground in the village of Maysky, Belgorod region, where he continued his training.
In Belgorod, he received a military uniform, ID, tag and a Kalashnikov rifle. Over three days, he trained in shooting and performed various military drills.
On 4 February, by order of the Defense Ministry, Khalikov, along with 79 others, crossed into Ukraine illegally, without Uzbekistan’s passport, to fight in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) on Russia’s side, the documents say.
That same day, during the crossing into the LPR, their convoy was attacked by a Ukrainian drone, and Khalikov sustained injuries to his head, left arm, left shoulder and right foot from a shell explosion. He regained consciousness at a Moscow hospital in March, where he received one month of treatment.
The Russian Ministry of Defense transferred another 300,000 rubles ($3,074) to his card.
After his recovery, he returned to a dormitory at the warehouse in Saint Petersburg due to being unfit for further combat. His wife joined him three days later, bringing his Uzbekistan passport. He told her about what happened, and she suggested returning to Uzbekistan.
Khalikov clarified that he hadn’t crossed the border illegally, as his passport had been confiscated at Kaminka. He was offered Russian citizenship, which he declined, resulting in his passport not being returned.
On 4 July, Khalikov returned to Uzbekistan from Saint Petersburg.
In court, Khalikov fully admitted his guilt.
The court found Alisher Khalikov guilty under part 1 of article 154 of the Criminal Code (mercenarism, defined as participation in armed conflict or military action on the territory or side of a foreign state by an individual who is neither a citizen nor a service member of that state, for material or personal gain) and sentenced him to 5 years in prison.
Previously, a 56-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan received a three-year sentence for fighting in Ukraine for Russia. He claimed he had signed a contract with Russian armed forces without reading it and sustained injuries in Donetsk region following a Ukrainian drone and grenade attack.
Another citizen of Uzbekistan signed a contract with the private military company Wagner, serving in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. He received a medal “For the liberation of Artemovsk” and assisted in Yevgeny Prigozhin’s “march of justice”. A court in Tashkent sentenced him to 4 years of restricted freedom.
