When the Ukrainian Kateryna Rietz-Rakul recently heard that Germany wanted to take in Russian deserters, the Berliner-by-choice initially thought it was a bad joke. “I thought that couldn’t possibly be true, I couldn’t believe it at first. That must be satire, maybe a report in that satirical magazine ‘Postillon’. Until I looked at the news,” says the simultaneous interpreter, who has been with the city since March 20 years living in Germany.
There she sees with great astonishment how the German politicians literally fall over themselves with offers of help for the Russian conscientious objectors, right across the alliance of the traffic light government. “Anyone who hates Putin’s path and loves liberal democracy is very welcome in Germany,” emphasized Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP).
“I really take it for granted to support such people, to give such people refuge,” says Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil of the SPD. And the parliamentary secretary of the Greens, Irene Mihalic, demands: “Anyone who does not want to take part as a soldier in Putin’s murderous aggressive war against Ukraine, which violates international law and is therefore fleeing Russia, must be granted asylum in Germany.”
Are the deserters really against Russia’s war of aggression?
Rietz-Rakul, who looks after Ukrainian scholarship holders at the Humboldt Forum, cannot understand this. Giving asylum to Russian deserters is a clear political mistake. “These aren’t members of the opposition or dissidents. They just don’t want to risk their own lives. Until a few days ago they had no problem with Russian politics, and now they’ve woken up. But it’s not the job of the West to protect these people .”
The Ukrainian refers to the videos that are going viral from the Georgian border with Russia. 50,000 Russians have fled to the neighboring country in the past few days, partly because Poland and the Baltic states have more or less closed their borders for fear of spies.
“We see Russians getting upset because they’re being turned away because they either have a Z sticker on their car or a Z tattoo on their body,” says Rietz-Rakul. “And then comments like: ‘Georgians, better remember the tanks from 2008.’ In Germany, people always say, if only we had listened to the Eastern Europeans earlier. And now they’re not listening to the Eastern Europeans again.”
But can Germany really turn away people who do not want to take part in the Russian war of aggression? One argument that is now frequently repeated in German politics is that every soldier who receives asylum in this country is one less soldier for Putin’s army. Kateryna Rietz-Rakul thinks it’s a milkmaid’s bill. “I find that misleading because Russia will get its 300,000 or a million reservists one way or another. So it doesn’t change the fact, except that we’re going to have a major security problem here.”
Big challenge security clearance
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the granting of asylum is a case-by-case decision, which also includes a security check. Especially when it comes to members of the Russian military, you have to know who actually wants to come to Germany. CDU leader Friedrich Merz has now announced that he is “strictly opposed to giving all conscientious objectors to military service and mobilization in Russia access to the Federal Republic of Germany”. And Rietz-Rakul is also wondering how the German authorities intend to deal with a possible flood of applications in the current situation.
“Here in Germany, we are already overwhelmed with taking in Ukrainian women and children, with the apartments and the documents. Now many federal states are saying we are overcrowded and can no longer take in refugees. Where should these men from Russia go? How will this security check take place? And how will their social networks be checked?”
More than a million people from Ukraine are already registered in Germany, mostly women and children. Kateryna Rietz-Rakul recalls that many fled from Russian soldiers. Only to meet Russian soldiers again in their new homeland, if Germany gives the green light for asylum for deserters. “It’s crazy, there’s already a lot of verbal and non-verbal attacks on Ukrainian women. Why not take in women from Dagestan or Iran instead?”
Fear of Ukrainian activists
Ana, whose real name is different, knows how it feels to be attacked by Russian counter-demonstrators at rallies. The Ukrainian came to Germany as a child and is an activist for the Ukrainian diaspora association Vitsche, which is also responsible for the protests in the German capital. She says: “As activists, we are of course afraid because there are often provocations at demonstrations where people with a Russian background try to provoke participants. The security concerns have not even reached Germany yet.”
Vladimir Putin chokes on Ukraine – solidarity action in front of the Brandenburg Gate
A week ago, Vitsche demonstrated in front of the German Ministry of Defense for deliveries of armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. A rally is planned for October, as intellectuals in Germany are allegedly being taken in by Russian propaganda. The non-governmental organization’s work also includes scouring Russia’s social media. Your result:
“In Russian Z-groups, many people cheered very loudly when any war crimes were committed. After the mobilization, the same people fled from one day to the next or want to flee. They shouldn’t be allowed into the country. Because the Russian army is very Having suffered many casualties, they would rather watch the war from a comfortable distance. But it is not known whether they are really distancing themselves from this war.”
People from Ukraine criticize German “naivety”
Ana also doesn’t believe that large numbers of security checks can adequately scrutinize the attitude of Russian deserters, since chat histories are easy to delete. In addition, the apolitical, privileged middle class would now come from the larger cities. “They have good connections and the money to afford these expensive flights. And certainly the means to cover up what their position has been for the last few months.”
Many Ukrainians here in Germany think that Germany’s position on the Russian deserters is a decal of the general German position on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Too many in this country still believed in the myth of the good, mysterious Russian soul. Ana says:
“This naivety has brought us to where we are today. We have always opened our arms in Western Europe and said, these are our values, we accept you, we tolerate you and you can do what you want. But this naivety is becoming us won’t get us any further. It will only further affect our security and that of the Ukrainian refugees here in Germany.”
