63rd Mechanized Brigade Captures Uzbek Mercenary

Soldiers of the 63rd Mechanized Brigade captured a citizen of Uzbekistan who was fighting in the ranks of the Russian invasion army.

A video of the captured prisoner’s interrogation was released by the brigade’s press service.

It is reported that the mercenary was taken prisoner during fighting in the Lyman direction.

According to the prisoner himself, he went to fight for Russia in exchange for its citizenship. He received RUB 2 million for signing the contract.

“A rare case – the fighters of the 63rd Brigade in the Lyman direction captured… a citizen of Uzbekistan. He says he sold himself for Russian citizenship and RUB 2 million. Umit (that’s his name) went to the assault, took a hit, got lost, and came to the positions of our 106th Battalion,” states the comment from the 63rd Brigade regarding the released footage.

The brigade emphasized that the only chance for the invaders to survive is to surrender as prisoners.

As early as the fall of 2022, the governments of three Central Asian countries, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, reminded their citizens about the potential criminal responsibility for participating in the war in Ukraine.

In particular, the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Russia warned its citizens against joining military formations and/or participating in combat operations on the territory of foreign states, for which imprisonment of 5 to 10 years is prescribed.

Russia is striving to achieve any success in Ukraine by using all available resources. Due to issues with personnel replenishment, mercenaries from various countries are being recruited into the war.

In early May, it was reported that the Ukrainian Defense Forces captured mercenaries from the African country of Togo.

According to available information from the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, most of these individuals are young people who sought to study in Russia under scholarship programs.

Soldiers from the 49th Separate Assault Battalion Carpathian Sich captured a Senegalese national fighting for Russian forces near Toretsk.