Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Digest from the Movement of Conscientious Objection Russia

October 2023

(October 2023) Hello! Artyom Klyga is with you again with the MCO digest for October 2023. Conscription in Russia started again and police have already detained men even in mosques. Organisations are afraid of receiving updated fines, and therefore they are putting their military records in order. It is a sad case law – the courts believe that the age of discharge from military service after mobilisation is 65 years old, not 50. The MCO sent its proposals and recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council for the Universal Periodic Review.

Russia: More than 250,000 flee recruitment to war

Russian organizations call for protection and asylum for all conscientious objectors

(20.09.2023) One year after the partial mobilization, Connection e.V. today presents updated figures on the flight of men subject to military service from Russia. Based on a study by the independent network for analysis and policy RE: Russia, Connection e.V. concludes that at least 250,000 men subject to military draft from Russia have left the country since the beginning of the war against Ukraine and are seeking protection in other countries. Connection e.V. and the Protestant Association for Conscientious Objection and Peace (EAK) demand that steps finally be taken to protect these individuals.

Russia: Escape from participation in the war

Current figures, September 2023

(19.09.2023) Based on new information, we update our estimate for the number of fled military service-obligated men from Russia. We arrive now at a figure of at least 250,000 male refugees liable for military service who left Russia.

In September 2022, we had made an estimate, based on various statistics, of how many military service men have fled Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. For Russia, we came up with an estimate there of at least 150,000, for Belarus at least 22,000, and for Ukraine at least 170,000.

France: Refugee protection for Russian conscientious objectors at risk of recruitment

(06.09.2023) The Grand Chamber of the National Asylum Court (CNDA) ruled on September 6, 2023, that Russian nationals who refuse partial mobilisation or forced recruitment as part of the war in Ukraine must be granted refugee status, as they would be induced to commit such crimes directly or indirectly due to the large-scale commission of war crimes by the Russian armed forces. However, they would have to prove that they are actually at risk of being recruited for the war.