“Deserters are not traitors and desertion is not a crime, because there is no other way out of this situation,” Alexander told DW. The young Russian said that it was “a reasonable decision for a well-trained person not to take part in an aggressive war.”

Alexander is one of six Russian fugitives who have arrived in Paris in recent months. They first fled to Kazakhstan and then to France in 2022 and 2023. Now they hope to be granted political asylum.

German human rights and refugee protection association Pro Asyl estimates that at least 250,000 soldiers sought protection in other countries from February 2022, when Russia launched a war against Ukraine, to September 2023.

Many sought safety in Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia, Türkiye, Serbia and Israel. However, there are reports that fugitives were sent back to Russia from Kazakhstan and Armenia.

Pro Asyl reported that only a few Russian soldiers escaped because it was difficult to reach any of the Schengen countries and EU countries had very restrictive visa regulations.

France sets an example

France has become the first EU country to allow former military personnel opposed to Russia’s war against Ukraine to enter the country without a passport. However, the men had previously been examined in Kazakhstan to determine whether there were any problems.

“I understand the concerns of Western countries and why they do not issue travel documents to many deserters, because they could be Russian secret service agents or war criminals,” says Alexander. Therefore, the men’s departure from Russia and their subsequent travels were monitored.

“We checked the background of all six fugitives.” Alexei Alshansky of the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), an independent investigative organization originally from Russia, told DW: CIT had to leave Russia in 2022.

Alshansky is a former member of the Russian army who helped deserters come to France. “At some point we contacted human rights activists in the EU and then a year-long advocacy work began,” Alshansky told DW. “The fugitives were in Kazakhstan the entire time.”

Escape from the Russian army

Of the six men currently hoping to be granted asylum in France, only Alexander was directly involved in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where he served as an officer. He served in Crimea, annexed by Russia, in the winter of 2022.

He told DW that at first everything looked like Russia was conducting a military exercise. However, on February 24, 2022, all soldiers were sent off in convoy.

“There was no order to attack Ukraine, no instructions, we just crossed the Ukrainian border and only then did we understand what was happening,” Alexander recalls. “I was shocked and didn’t know why we were in Ukraine.”

He says he does not want to participate in the military operation. But he also knew he couldn’t go back.

“Either my own men would shoot me, or I would be arrested at the border. I needed a legal way to return to Russia,” says Alexander.

When he finally took leave and returned to Russia, he immediately applied for discharge from the army. However, in September 2022, Russia declared partial mobilization.

“It was clear that if I didn’t escape from Russia, I would either be imprisoned or sent back to the front,” says Alexander.

Break in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is one of the few countries that Russians can enter without a passport. For this reason, many Russian men took refuge there, including Alexander. After arriving in the country, he contacted human rights defenders through his acquaintances and applied for asylum.

“I knew it would be difficult to get protection in Kazakhstan because Kazakhstan was still dependent on Russia to some extent,” says Alexander. “I was not granted refugee status, but at least my legal stay was extended.”

Alexander also visited Western embassies seeking assistance. “I knew I couldn’t apply for asylum there and could only do so on country territory,” he recalls.

After staying in Kazakhstan for two years, he was finally able to go to France. “We were allowed into France because we actively oppose the war, not because we are deserters,” says Alexander.

No evidence of war crimes

“His involvement in the Russian invasion (of Ukraine) was not up to him,” says CIT’s Alshansky, although he acknowledges that one cannot be absolutely certain that the fugitives’ stories are true.

However, there is no evidence that Alexander committed war crimes in Ukraine. “Therefore he needs to be provided with humanitarian protection and it is very fortunate that he has received it.”

Alshansky is also aware that Ukrainians cannot understand why former Russian soldiers are given such protection. For Ukrainians, “it may be difficult to see the situation from the other side (of the conflict) and understand that not all Russian soldiers want to fight in Ukraine,” Alshansky says. There were many Russian soldiers who just wanted to survive and did not necessarily want to fight.

Alshansky points out that international law says that a person is not automatically classified as a war criminal simply because he or she participates in war. “In the context of armed conflict, humanitarian law guarantees the protection of all persons not implicated in war crimes.”

Russian deserters cannot receive support in their own country

According to CIT, the number of Russian deserters has been increasing since the beginning of the Ukrainian war. Although desertion was “a truly bold step,” according to Alshansky, this large segment of the Russian population does not receive any support from Russian society.

“When someone attends an anti-war demonstration carrying a ‘no war’ banner and spends several days behind bars as a result, that person is considered a hero,” Alshansky says. “Such people can get a visa to another country, there are international programs for them. But if someone flees Russia after being starved and beaten in a ditch for weeks because they refuse to join Putin’s war, they won’t get any support.” he says.

Russian deserters generally receive support only from foreign human rights organizations. “Russian civil society is not inclined to help deserters,” says Alshansky. “When he learns that a person has defected from the Russian army, he becomes paralyzed. This attitude is unfair, to say the least.”

Six Russian deserters captured by France are now doing their part to help other Russian men who have defected from the army. Even “Farewell guns!” They even established an association called.

This article was first published in Russian.