The EU’s first case of asylum for Russian deserters- 6 people were granted temporary visas to France, including Russian-Ukrainian war officers and compulsory service members_2

Six Russian deserters have recently applied for asylum in France and received temporary visas, including soldiers who previously served in the Ukraine conflict, along with conscripts and officers. Human rights activists describe this as a significant case involving Russian defectors gaining entry into an EU country.

According to reports from The Guardian, there have been tens of thousands of Russian soldiers who have fled or refused to follow combat orders since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as stated by human rights advocates and organizations assisting soldiers in their escape.

The organization Go By The Forest, which has been instrumental in helping these defectors, indicated that the group fled to Kazakhstan in 2022 and 2023, eventually arriving in Paris over the past few months.

Ivan Chuviliaev, a spokesperson for Go By The Forest, noted, “This marks the first instance of an EU country allowing a group of defectors without any travel documents or passports to enter.” He added that France’s willingness to accept these soldiers could set a precedent, sending a strong message to other Western nations and potentially speeding up the process for more defectors to leave the Russian military.

However, the West remains divided over the question of whether to accept Russian deserters, balancing perspectives that view them as heroes, potential security threats, or war criminals. While the EU and its member states have discussed providing asylum to Russian deserters, no formal decisions have been made, and securing asylum remains a challenge for these individuals.

Most Russian soldiers choose to escape to countries like Armenia and Kazakhstan, where they can enter without passports but still face uncertainty about their next steps and concerns about being stranded.

Independent Russian outlet Mediazone reports that the Kremlin has filed at least 7,400 cases against deserters over the past two years, accusing them of abandoning their posts without permission. Given the authorities’ systematic attempts to suppress information about the military, the actual number of deserters could be even higher.

Additionally, Russia is actively pursuing defectors who have sought refuge abroad, pressuring neighboring countries to extradite them.