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1/ Russia's police are reportedly rounding up migrant taxi drivers to send them to the war in Ukraine. However, this puts migrants at risk of long jail sentences in their home countries under legislation banning fighting in foreign wars. ⬇️ 
2/ The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports that the Moscow traffic police are detaining migrant taxi drivers who attempt to pay a "spot fine" (i.e. a bribe) when they are stopped for minor violations. It cites a number of examples:
3/🔺 28-year-old Yandex Taxi driver Omurbek Abdykasyt was stopped and detained after trying to give a policeman 2,500 rubles; on the same day, another YT driver, Sabir Bazarov from Uzbekistan, was detained for placing 12,000 rubles next to an inspector.
4/ 🔺 29-year-old Tajik Idris Kanoatov was stopped and put all the money he had between the seats in his taxi: "two 5000 bills, one 500-ruble note, two 200-ruble notes, twenty 100-ruble notes and two for 50 rubles." He was arrested for attempted bribery.
5/🔺 Khan Turudbekov from Kyrgyzstan was arrested after attempting to bribe an inspector with 9,250 rubles to deregister his car and take it abroad.
6/🔺 Zohirshon Nodir from Tajikistan crossed the road in the wrong place, was detained and was taken to the police station. He gave a policeman a 2,000 ruble note and was kept in detention.
7/ While the channel does not say what happened to the men after that, it's likely that they were put under pressure in a variety of ways to get them to sign up to fight in Ukraine. There have been many reports of this happening previously.
https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1601670888013062144
8/ However, it comes with substantial legal risks for the migrants themselves. The Central Asian states, where most come from, have enacted laws banning fighting for foreign armies or armed groups – originally intended to deter jihadists going to Syria or Afghanistan.
9/ In one recent example, 34-year-old Alexey Shompolov from Karaganda (Qaraghandy) in Kazakhstan was jailed for six years and eight months in prison for participating in the war against Ukraine as a Wagner Group mercenary.
10/ Shompolov was found guilty of "mercenarism" and "committing a grave criminal offence against the peace and security of mankind." His earnings of 205,590 ($2,300) rubles were also confiscated.
11/ Shompolov pleased guilty and stated that he went to war out of financial need. He claimed to have been misled by the Russians, saying that he did not violate the law, since in Ukraine "it is not a war, but a special operation to liberate the civilian population." /end
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