The man, identified as A.N., told the court that he was among 64 Uzbek nationals sent to a military training ground for deployment to the war against Ukraine. He claimed that only three of them escaped and survived, while all the others were killed.
A.N. traveled to Russia in December 2022 to find work. He initially worked at construction sites in St. Petersburg before moving to Moscow.
In Moscow, he contacted a man named Sukhrob through Telegram and began delivering psychotropic substances to locations provided through geolocation. On January 14, 2023, Sukhrob sent him the location of 20 psychotropic tablets and instructed him to deliver them to a man named Bunyod. A.N. was arrested while carrying out the assignment that same day.
He was subsequently convicted of a drug-related offense and sentenced to seven years in prison. He began serving his sentence at Penal Colony No. 5 in Tambov.
While in prison, A.N. was offered the opportunity to join the Russian army and fight in the war against Ukraine. He told the court that he signed a military contract after allegedly being subjected to harsh treatment in the colony.
“Prison staff would abuse me, put me in a punishment cell for no reason and keep me awake at night, forcing me to participate in the war against Ukraine on Russia’s side. They also deliberately served food made with pork and pork fat. Unable to endure the suffering, I signed the contract in September 2025,” A.N. said in his testimony.
He was then taken from the prison to a military training site, where he underwent 30 days of military training. In late October 2025, he escaped from the training ground with several other people and traveled to Moscow.
A.N. contacted the Uzbek Embassy to seek assistance in returning home. Embassy officials told him that a certificate of return to Uzbekistan would be ready in seven days. Instead of waiting, he arranged for a forged certificate through acquaintances.
On November 11, 2025, Russian authorities discovered at an airport in Novosibirsk that his certificate was forged. He was subsequently held at a temporary detention facility in Novosibirsk until May 25, 2026.
“From November 11, 2025, to May 25, 2026, I was investigated. Because I had been sent from the prison to the training ground without any documents being processed, on the grounds that I would be killed in the war, no documents confirming my imprisonment or deployment to the war were found. I was then deported to Uzbekistan,” A.N. told the court.
