(Reuters) -Uzbek workers at a waste processing plant in the western Russian city of Oryol, who were handed mobilisation notices and ordered to show up at the local conscription point, have asked their president for help, a local news outlet reported.
Moscow started the mobilisation campaign, its first since World War Two, last month as its military campaign in Ukraine stalled and Russian forces began to lose ground. Hundreds of thousands of men have since fled Russia to avoid being sent to the front lines.
According to the Istoki video report, Oryol authorities sent out a fresh batch of mobilisation notices this week, including 50 to workers of the EcoCity waste processing facility.
Half of the workers, however, are Uzbek nationals, it said, showing a group of men displaying their Uzbek passports and asking Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to intervene on their behalf.
The Uzbek embassy in Russia said on Thursday that the notices had been served to 26 Uzbeks by mistake and the issue has been resolved, as have other cases where Uzbeks – over a million of whom are estimated to work in Russia – were called up to Russian conscription points.
The mobilisation campaign drew criticism after notices were served to many people not eligible for military service, prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin to order officials to correct all mistakes.
Uzbekistan has warned its citizens against joining foreign armies, which qualifies as a felony under Uzbek law.
(Reporting by Olzhas AuyezovEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
