An Andijan taxi driver has been sentenced to a little over seven years in prison for attempting to recruit passengers in his cab into work supporting the Russian war in Ukraine.
Furkatbek Khasanov was detained last summer at the Fergana Airport, alongside a man who had apparently taken him up on the offer.
According to reporting from Kun.uz and other Uzbek news agencies, Khasanov confessed fully in court. He said that in December 2023, a Russian citizen he’d met more than decade earlier when he was working at a factory in Russia, “Dmitry Robertovich,” had contacted him via WhatsApp and offered him work – baking bread or in construction – in the conflict area between Russia and Ukraine. Khasanov, who had been deported from Russia and subject to an entry ban as a result, offered to recruit others instead of trying to go himself.
Dmitry, Khasanov claimed, had promised him payments of $400 to $1,000 for each person he sent.
And so, Khasanov made the pitch to passengers in his cab.
I exchanged my phone number with several people who were passengers in my car and who were interested in working abroad, telling them about the jobs and offers promised by Dmitry. I told them that there was a good job in Russia, that it was free, that there would be cleaning and environmental protection work in the areas where the war between Russia and Ukraine had taken place, that they would be provided with military uniforms, weapons, and an officer’s rank, that they would be given a contract for 6 months, that they would be given a monthly salary of 2,500-3,000 dollars, and various benefits, in particular, that they could obtain Russian citizenship.
Khasanov was found guilty under Article 154 of the Uzbek Criminal Code, which covers mercenary activities, including recruitment, and entails a seven to 12 year sentence. Khasanov’s sentence of seven years and one month arguably reflects the contrition he reportedly displayed in court.
While this story fits into an ongoing trend of Uzbek authorities jailing Uzbek citizens for participating in the Russian war, it also points to the myriad pressures with which Uzbeks contend.
Take Khasanov’s apparent deportation from Russia and resulting re-entry ban. While details as to this aspect in his specific case have not been reported, Russian has long imposed entry bans on migrant workers who violate either immigration rules or rack up other administrative violations.
Russia’s migration rules are notoriously slippery. In April 2024, political anthropologist Malika Bahovadinova told The Diplomat that explaining the regulatory and legal framework that governs labor migration between Tajikistan and Russia was “the most difficult question asked of any researcher working on migration to Russia.” This arguably extends to Uzbekistan, as well.
“Russia’s migration legislation is complex and continuously changing,” Bahovadinova said, highlighting the expansion of reasons for entry bans in 2014 and 2014. “Three paid fines – for example, for the late payment of fees for even phone bills or minor traffic violations – can also lead to a re-entry ban.”
Whatever led to Khasanov’s deportation from Russia, it landed him back in Uzbekistan where he was when Dmitry made his offer in December 2023.
Uzbek citizens are not just at risk of recruitment from random cab drivers in Uzbekistan. Migrant workers in Russia have continued to face pressure to join the Russian war effort.
RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service recently reported on an Uzbek man in Moscow who was detained in a raid and pressured at the police station to sign a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense. The man, identified as Yusuf, claimed that the police – who seized his passport – found out he had taken out a loan. They allegedly offered to get his loan paid, if he would sign up; he refused. Yusuf, according to the report, sought help from the Uzbek embassy in Moscow but was told they couldn’t help him.
Yusuf returned to Uzbekistan but, the report states, he plans to return to Russia as he needs to work to pay off the loan and support his family.
