Thousands of Russians withdraw from the war in Ukraine: destroy military uniforms and seek refuge abroad

Last year, nearly 57,000 people from Russia tried to enter the United States. Western countries facing a large and growing Russian diaspora, including Russian soldiers, have some concerns: Are they spies? War criminals? Or maybe heroes? tv3.lt shares the story.

Several officers and one soldier, believed to have deserted from the Russian army, agreed to speak. They all face criminal charges and 10 or more years in prison in Russia. All hope that the West will accept them, but at the moment all but one are living in hiding.

“I had to choose death or a bullet in my leg.” Yevgeny chose the bullet. Russian soldier Yevgeny deserted like thousands of other Russian soldiers.

“I’m joking that I gave birth to myself,” he said, declining to give his full name for fear of punishment. “When a woman gives birth to a child, she experiences great pain and gives new life. I took my own life and created myself anew through pain,” said the man. Evgeny managed to get himself out of the trenches. But the new life is not what he expected.

“I did the right thing,” said another deserter nicknamed “Sparrow,” who is hiding in Kazakhstan while waiting for his asylum claim to be processed. After being forced to join the army, he ran away from the barracks because he didn’t want to kill anyone. “I’d rather sit here and suffer looking for something than go out there and kill someone for some obscure war, even though it’s 100% Russia’s fault. I don’t regret it,” he said.

Since the invasion of Ukraine, asylum applications by Russian citizens have increased, but only a few are approved.

Politicians disagree on whether to consider Russians living in exile as a threat to national security.

Former Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrjus Kubilius, who now works in the European Parliament, believes that fewer Russian troops at the front meant a weaker army.

“To say that all Russians are guilty is a mistake,” he is convinced.

The independent Russian media “Mediazona” recorded that as of September 2022, more than 7.3 thousand cases were filed in Russian courts against soldiers who left arbitrarily: cases of desertion, which is the most severe charge, have increased sixfold in the last year.

In the “Idite Lesom” group, which is led by Russian activists in Georgia, according to the head of the group, Grigory Sverdlin, support has been provided to more than 26,000 people.

“It is clear that Russian propaganda is trying to convince us that all of Russia supports Putin and his war. But this is not true”, said Sverdlins. The question is – where can they go?

Farhad Ziganshin, an officer who deserted shortly after the September 2022 mobilization decree, was detained in Kazakhstan while trying to board a plane bound for Armenia after local authorities found his name on a Russian wanted list.

“It is not safe to stay in Kazakhstan,” Ziganshin said. “I’m just trying to live a normal life without breaking the laws of Kazakhstan, without being too visible, without appearing anywhere. We have a proverb – be quieter than water and shorter than grass.”

He is still waiting for his asylum application to be approved.

German officials have said that Russians fleeing military service can apply for protection, and a French court ruled last summer that Russians who refuse to fight can apply for refugee status. But in practice, it is very difficult for deserters, most of whom have passports that allow them to travel only to some former Soviet countries, to obtain asylum, lawyers, activists and deserters say.

2022. less than 300 Russians received refugee status in the United States. And of the 5,246 people whose applications were processed last year, less than 10 percent received protection from the German authorities.

Another Russian officer nicknamed “The Athlete” made a video diary of his escape. As he prepared to leave Russia, he did his best to show his opposition to the war. “They wanted to force me to go and fight against the free people of Ukraine,” he told the camera. He stuffed his military uniforms into two black garbage bags and threw them in the dumpster.

“The worst that could happen happened,” he said, leaving Russia with the remnants of his former life packed into one small backpack. “Now only good things await.”