France has issued temporary visas to six Russian soldiers who have fled the war in Ukraine, a move that is expected to inspire more countries to offer protection to these nationals under such circumstances.
These six soldiers, who arrived in France separately, will be applying for political asylum, and Go By The Forest, an organisation that assists soldiers in fleeing the war, has helped them throughout this journey, Schengen.News reports.
Russian Soldiers Who Desert The Army Are Persecuted & Not Safe Even in the EU
According to The Guardian, the number of Russian soldiers who have deserted or refused orders to fight has increased to tens of thousands since February 2022, when the war in Ukraine began.
However, escaping the war makes them often a target of persecution, even in other countries. It is quite common for Russian soldiers to hide in former Soviet countries such as Armenia and Kazakhstan, where they do not need to present a passport.
Russia has persecuted deserters hiding abroad, pressuring countries to deport Russian deporters back. That was the case of Mikhail Zhilin, a Russian intelligence officer who was deported from Kazakhstan and returned to Russia, where he was sentenced to six and half years in prison.
Those who manage to reach the EU are not completely safe either. In February, Maksim Kuzminov, a Russian pilot who had deserted the war in Ukraine, was found dead after being shot in his apartment in Alicante, Spain.
Russian-EU Relations Went ‘South’ After the War in Ukraine
Since February of 2024, the bilateral relations between Russia and the EU have deteriorated significantly, with many countries no longer issuing visas for Russians.
In recent years, these countries have specifically cited national security concerns as the reason for tightening their measures and banned Russians in solidarity with the Ukranian population.
The number of visa applications filed by Russians dropped by 24 per cent in 2023, indicating a significant change in the interest that these nationals have to travel to the EU.
The Russian government has also granted fewer visas to European nationals, as the data by the Russian Foreign Ministry reveals. In 2023, 158,972 visas were issued, 0.7 per cent more than in 2022 but 37.7 per cent down by 2021 levels, which was the year before the war in Ukraine.
Source: https://schengen.news/france-grants-temporary-visas-to-6-russian-soldiers-fleeing-war-in-ukraine/
