Germany has turned down the vast bulk of asylum demands sent by Russian men of draft age because Moscow launched the full-scale intrusion of Ukraine, the Berliner Morgenpost reported Tuesday.Just 349 of the 6,374 Russian men aged 18 to 45 who obtained asylum in between early 2022 and April 2025 were given defense, the paper wrote, citing Interior Ministry data.
That consists of eitherrefugee status, asylum or protection from deportation.The staying 95% were either rejected or had their cases closed after getting asylum in another European country.This is a shamefully low number, stated Clara Bnger, a legislator from the opposition Left party, which had actually asked for the figures to assess Germanys support for Russian military deserters.Germanys biggest immigration advocacy group, Pro Asyl, noted that conscientious objectors and draft-eligible men typically deal with lower chances of success than those who have actually currently fled military service.Concerns about declining asylum approvals increased after a Berlin court ruled last August that young Russian conscripts were more likely to be assigned to surround guard systems than deployed to Ukraine, damaging their claims.Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said recently that the new federal government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz had actually advised border authorities to turn away undocumented migrants, including asylum seekers.Former Chancellor Olaf Scholz had supported using sanctuary to Russian draft evaders in 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of around 300,000 reservists in September in the middle of a Ukrainian counteroffensive, triggering thousands of draft-eligible males to run away the country to avoid possible military service.