As of 2026, the Ukrainian state project «I Want to Live» holds personal data on 12,666 citizens of Central Asian countries who have signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense and are fighting against Ukraine. Representatives of the project shared this information in response to a request from the «Ukraine – Central Asia» initiative.
The largest cohort on record is from Uzbekistan, with data confirmed on 4,853 of its citizens. Tajikistan ranks second, with 3,407 nationals documented as participants in the war on Russia's side. Kazakhstan places third, with 2,389 individuals identified as having signed contracts with the Russian Armed Forces. Kyrgyzstan follows, with at least 1,439 of its citizens recorded. The smallest figure belongs to Turkmenistan — 578 people.
In spring and summer 2025, «I Want to Live» published name lists of Central Asian nationals recruited to fight in the war, when the total stood at approximately 5,740 confirmed individuals. The cumulative count from all five post-Soviet republics of Central Asia has thus more than doubled over the past year.
