The key facts

  • Five residents of the Peshkun district illegally took 13 hares in a protected area
  • During the inspection of a UAZ vehicle, the violators resisted; one eco-police officer was hospitalized
  • The prosecutor's office is conducting a pre-investigation check into the incident

What Happened

In the Peshkun district of Bukhara region, a conflict with poachers broke out during an eco-police raid, as a result of which one officer sustained bodily injuries and was hospitalized. The incident occurred in a protected area in the Korakir massif.

Course of the Raid and the Conflict

According to the regional department of ecology and climate change, eco-police officers established that five residents of the district were hunting in the protected area using a prohibited night lighting device and hunting weapons — a total of 13 hares were taken. While clarifying the circumstances, the inspectors stopped a moving UAZ vehicle for inspection, but the citizens inside it failed to comply with lawful demands and offered resistance. One of the officers was given first aid and then hospitalized. Officers of the district internal affairs department were called to the scene.

Check and Context

The prosecutor's office is conducting a pre-investigation check into the incident; additional information was promised to be provided based on its results. This is not the first such case: in September 2026, while detecting illegal fishing on the Syr Darya, inspector Mirzo Botirov encountered resistance from violators, fell into the water and died; three citizens were detained. In November 2025, in the Shofirkon district of Bukhara region, citizens illegally cutting saxaul used force against an ecology officer — four were held accountable. And in July of the same year, in Khorezm, two inspectors who were pursuing saxaul cutters were injured: one of them had a broken leg.