Quotes
I understand the concerns of Western countries and why they do not hand out travel documents to many deserters, as they could include Russian secret service agents or war criminals,
Russian civil society is not inclined to help deserters,
I knew that I couldn't apply for asylum there, and that I could only do so on the territory of the country,
When someone attends an anti-war demonstration holding a 'no to war' placard and then spends several days behind bars as a result, they are considered a hero,
We checked the background of all six deserters,
Alexei Alshansky of the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), an independent investigative organization originally from Russia, told DW Either my own people would have shot me, or I would have been arrested at the border. I needed a legal way to get back to Russia,
His involvement in the [Russian] invasion [of Ukraine] was not up to him,
the CIT's Alshansky says, We were given permission to enter France because we actively oppose the war, not because we were deserters,
I knew that it would be difficult to get protection in Kazakhstan, as Kazakhstan is still dependent on Russia to a certain extent,
There was no order to attack Ukraine, there were no instructions, we simply crossed the Ukrainian border and only then did we realize what was going on,
At some point, we contacted human rights activists in the EU and then the advocacy work began, lasting a year,
It was clear to me I would either be jailed or sent back to the front line, unless I fled Russia,
Deserters are not traitors, and desertion is not a crime, because there is no other way out of this situation,
Such people can get a visa for another country, there are international programs for them. But if someone flees Russia after spending weeks in a pit, starving and being beaten because they refused to take part in Putin's war, they get no support,
