Evgeni is a Russian soldier who deserted from the army. Like thousands of others, he is fighting for a new and better life. But this life is not the one he hoped for, Euronews reported.
The Associated Press spoke with several officers and one soldier who had defected from the Russian military. Criminal cases have been filed against all of them in Russia, and they face 10 or more years in prison.
Now they fear deportation and persecution.
There is no option for the Russians who do not want to fight. Deserters cannot go home to safety. Economically, it is much cheaper to let a healthy young man into your country, who can work, than to supply Ukraine with weapons.
For Western countries facing a growing Russian diaspora, Russian soldiers pose a particular concern: Are they spies? War criminals? Or heroes?
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the number of asylum applications in Europe by Russian citizens has increased, but few of them are granted protection. Independent Russian media Mediazona has documented more than 7,300 cases in Russian courts against defections. Cases have increased sixfold in the past year.
German officials said Russians fleeing conscription could seek protection in the country. And last summer, a French court ruled that Russians who refuse to fight can claim refugee status. This is proving difficult for the defectors, most of whom have passports allowing travel only within a few former Soviet states.
"I'd rather sit here and suffer than go over there and kill a human being over some war that is 100% Russia's fault. I don't regret it," says one of the deserters from the Russian army.
Fewer than 300 Russians were granted refugee status in the US in 2022. Customs and Border Protection officials encountered more than 57,000 Russians at US borders in 2023.
In France, asylum applications increased by more than 50% between 2022 and 2023. And last year, almost 8 thousand asylum applications from Russian citizens were received in Germany. The data does not indicate how many of them were military.