A citizen of Uzbekistan, who signed a contract with the Russian private military company "Wagner" and served in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, was punished. It was revealed that he received the medal "For the liberation of Artemovsk" and participated in the "March of Justice" with Yevgeny Prigozhin.

On August 21, the Mirzo Ulugbek District Court of Tashkent sentenced a 48-year-old Uzbek man who served in the private military company "Wagner" to justice. "Gazeta.uz" reported on this based on the court decision.

According to case files, in September 2022, BZ from the capital (born in 1976) went to work in Russia. He explained that he left to earn money because he wanted to buy a bigger apartment. At that time, he (the only breadwinner in the family), his disabled wife, mother, sister and three children - seven people in total - lived in a two-room apartment, in particular, he and his wife lived in the kitchen.

The man went to the Russian Federation on the "Tashkent-Novosibirsk" bus through the "Gishtkoprik" border post. He worked as a baker in one enterprise until May 20, 2023. At that time, he saw an advertisement of "Wagner" KHK on one of the Telegram channels.

He was informed that he will be paid 240,000 rubles (43.8 million soums) for participating in combat operations, and another 45,000 rubles will be paid for 21 days of military training. He agreed and went to the military base in Krasnodar.

The man told the court that he was warned that "there was no going back and he might die fighting." The man said that he needed money, so he agreed to serve.

The terms of the six-month contract required him to obey all orders during hostilities and not to disclose information about Wagner if contacted by the Russian Federal Security Service ("FSB"), as well as the country and place of residence to which money should be sent for his coffin and service upon his probable death. it was recorded that he would show his address.

The man also had to indicate the number of family members and their places of residence.

After he signed the contract, his phone and personal belongings were taken away and he was given a military uniform. They wrote his name on the computer, gave him another name, "B" with the symbol T-4949, and also provided him with an AK-74 machine gun.

Then they gave instructions, explained the rules of the company's internal procedure, instructed their partners not to disclose their personal information, not to ask them for such information, not to address each other by conditional names, not to use communication tools.

In addition, if their partners retreated during the battle, they had to shoot them, as well as help the wounded during the battle. They are forbidden to consume alcohol and drugs, as well as to quarrel with each other. If they pointed a weapon at their comrades or their commander, they could be shot without warning.

According to him, they are also forbidden to communicate with civilians, steal their property, take food and other things from them. Disobeying these orders was punishable by death. These rules are called "Wagner's oral golden rules".

He lived with 9 companions in the tent of the military unit, from 5 in the morning until noon they underwent combat training: running, taking positions with a machine gun, sitting and lying down, learning attack tactics. After lunch, they learned how to use weapons, clean and assemble them, protect against mines while moving, and camouflage during an attack.

On June 23, 2023, the man helped during the "March of Justice" announced by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the "Wagner" KHK, accusing the Russian Ministry of Defense of a rocket attack on the KHK camp. At that time, the fighters of the Red Army entered Rostov-Don and occupied military and administrative facilities, after which, according to Prigozhin's order, separate parts of the group of 25 thousand people headed towards Moscow and stopped 200 km from the Russian capital.

At that time, the defendant and other military personnel assisted in the delivery of military supplies, food and medical supplies, military uniforms and ammunition. However, he did not use the machine gun because he was not ordered to use a weapon.

After that, the fighters of the SDF retreated to Ukraine, and then to Belarus at the invitation of President Alexander Lukashenko.

The accused went to the base in Mogilev (a city in the east of Belarus) by bus in a military convoy. They worked there until September 20, then they were taken to Podolsk. They were told that those who want to can get Russian citizenship and live here until their passports are ready.

However, it was explained to him that after receiving the passport, he would be sent to serve in African countries. The man did not renew the contract, which ended prematurely due to Prigozhin's death on August 23, and received a salary of 467,000 rubles (almost 60 million soums, about 5,000 dollars at the exchange rate of that day).

He returned to Tashkent on September 24, 2023.

According to the court decision, he fought against Ukraine in the Lugansk region (after the occupation of Russia, it was renamed the Lugansk People's Republic). He also received the medal "For the Liberation of Artemovsk" established in the DPR at the end of May 2023 from the head of the Donetsk People's Republic.

The judge found the man guilty under Article 154, Part 1 of the Criminal Code (Recruitment, punishable by 5 to 10 years of imprisonment) and took into account mitigating circumstances (full confession, remorse, having a minor child and a disabled spouse). received, he was sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment.

He is prohibited from leaving his place of residence between 22:00 and 06:00, participating in public events, rallies, demonstrations, communicating with persons prone to committing crimes, and leaving the territory of Uzbekistan.

Earlier, the Upper Chirchik court sentenced a citizen living in Tashkent region to five years in prison for mercenary activities. Media reported that, according to the investigation, the convict fought in Ukraine on the side of the self-proclaimed independent DPR in 2014-2015.