“Defectors are not traitors and desertion is not a crime because there is no other way out,” Alexander tells DW. As he emphasizes, this is “a prudent decision of a well-bred man who does not want to participate in an expansive war.”

Alexander is one of six Russian defectors who have come to Paris in recent months, having traveled to France from Russia via Kazakhstan in the hope of receiving political asylum.

According to the estimates of the organization Pro Asyl, from the beginning of the war in Ukraine until September 2023, at least 250,000 Russian defectors sought protection in other countries, such as Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Serbia and Israel – in countries of the Schengen area, however, very few were directed, on the one hand because there is no refugee route from Russia to these countries, on the other hand because the regulatory framework for issuing visas in the EU member states is quite strict.

France’s first in the EU

France has become the first EU state to allow Russian servicemen, who oppose the war, to enter the country without travel documents – the men had been screened in Kazakhstan.

“I understand the concerns of Western countries and their reluctance to hand out travel documents generously to defectors, since among them there could be agents of the Russian secret service FSB or war criminals,” says Alexander.

“We have checked the stories of all six deserters,” Alexei Alshansky of Russia’s Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) assures DW. Alshansky, who was also in the Russian army earlier, helped the deserters to come to France.

Leaving the Russian army

Of the six men only the young officer Alexander took an active part in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When he had arrived at the Ukrainian border in February 2022, he had been given the impression that it was a military exercise. “We were not ordered to attack Ukraine, we just crossed the Ukrainian border and then we realized what was happening. I was shocked and didn’t know why we were in Ukraine,” Alexander recalled, adding that he didn’t want to take part in the attack – although he immediately realized he couldn’t just switch and turn back. “I would either be shot by my comrades or arrested at the border. I had to find a legal way to return to Russia,” says the deserter.

When he finally received leave, he immediately applied to Russia for discharge from the army. In September 2022, however, conscription was ordered. “Then I understood that there were three options: to go to prison, to return to the front or to leave Russia,” says Alexander.

Kazakhstan as a stopover

One of the few countries that welcome Russians even without travel documents is Kazakhstan. That is why many decide to escape there – just like Alexander. From there he contacted activists in order to be able to apply for asylum.

“I knew it would be difficult to get protection status in Kazakhstan, as it is a country that is still very dependent on Russia,” says the deserter. “However, although I was not granted refugee status, at least my legal stay in the country was extended.”

At the same time, he “knocked on the door” of various embassies of Western countries asking for help. After two years he finally managed to travel to France. “We received the relevant permission because we are actively opposed to the war – and not because we are deserters,” he emphasizes.

No evidence of war crimes

“He was just destined to join the invasion,” Alsansky says of Alexander. As for the latter, there is nothing to indicate that Alexander may have committed war crimes in Ukraine.

The expert is glad that Alexander was given protection – a view not many Ukrainians would share. For the people there, “it is difficult to see things from the other’s point of view and to realize that there are also Russian soldiers who do not want to fight in Ukraine”, he explains. After all, during the invasion many of the soldiers were just trying to survive.

Alsansky reminds that under international law, anyone who has simply participated in a war is not considered a war criminal. On the contrary, the law “ensures that in an armed conflict all those who have not committed war crimes are entitled to protection”.

Criticism in Russian civil society

According to the CIT group, since the start of the war the number of Russian deserters has been steadily increasing. This is a large part of the population, but which is not supported by the rest of society, as Alsansky says – although desertion is “a really brave step”.

“When someone participates in an anti-war demonstration holding a placard that says ‘No to war!’ and he ends up in prison, he is treated as a hero – and there are international programs that help such people to get visas abroad,” the expert observes.

“But when someone escapes Russia, having spent weeks in a pit, weakened by hunger and loaded with wood, because he refused to take part in Putin’s war, that person is alone,” says Alshansky.

Such people usually receive help from humanitarian organizations abroad. “Russian civil society does not intend to help deserters”, the expert points out, adding that this attitude seems “unfair”.

Now the six Russians are active in France, where they have also created a group, with the aim of helping other Russian deserters.

Edited by: Giorgos Passas