Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Mikita Sviryd: The story of a Belarusian deserter in Lithuania

Stuck between the threat of death penalty in Belarus and illegal refugee status in Lithuania

Mikita Sviryd, a Belarusan deserter who, when the war started in Ukraine, fled illegally to Lithuania because he was afraid that the Belarusan army would go to Ukraine to help Russia. Today Mikita is an illegal refugee, Lithuania has denied the young deserter political asylum. In Belarus, desertion can be punishable by death penalty. Today, he is desperate and expects nothing good in his future. What is for geopolitics the fate of one guy who at the age of 19 decided to give up being a soldier? #protection4Nikita

"Adbusting”: Berlin and Helsinki activists demand asylum for conscientious objectors

(11.07.2024) Oops, what are Berlin ad posters doing in Helsinki? And why are they campaigning for asylum for conscientious objectors? The "adbusted" posters are calling for asylum for conscientious objectors from Belarus and Russia. "We are currently in Helsinki to network with antimilitarists from the Baltic Sea region," reports Roderich Supersonnenwetter, spokesperson for the action group (AfKj!). "So close to the border with Russia, it makes sense to send a signal of solidarity for conscientious objection." Roderich Supersonnenwetter says: "Asylum for conscientious objectors from Russia and Belarus is a smart way to make it more difficult for Putin to wage his war in Ukraine!"

War in Ukraine: France grants asylum to 19 deserters of the Russian army

(22.03.2024) Since the beginning of the year, 19 Russian citizens have been granted asylum in France as announced by the National Asylum Court (CNDA) on March 22, 2024. Russian soldiers who refused to fight in Ukraine were already granted refugee status by the CNDA in June 2023. According to the court’s decisions, which were "read out between January 1 and mid-March 2024, 19 asylum applications" were granted, the CNDA told AFP news agency on Friday.

Two years after the start of the war: PRO ASYL and Connection e.V. criticise asylum rejections of Russian refusers

(21.02.2024) Two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) continues to reject Russian refusers and obliges them to return to Russia. Connection e.V. and PRO ASYL are alarmed by the BAMF’s reasoning, which ignores the risk for Russian refusers of being recruited in a war that violates international law.