The Trump administration has begun deporting Russian asylum seekers fleeing Putin’s illegal war back to their homeland where they face jail or death. 

Media reports say US immigration authorities have deported 80 Russian asylum seekers in shackles to Egypt, where they are put on planes to Moscow. 

Among this group was Andrei Vovchenko, a former Russian soldier who deserted rather than fight in Ukraine and travelled to the US where he claimed asylum. 

After ignoring his claims, US authorities deported him to Russian where he was arrested and now faces ten years in prison. 

Russian human rights activist Vladimir Osechkin said the deportations were “cruel and shameful”. 

“People in need of protection, fleeing Putin’s war and dictatorship, FSB torture and repression, have ended up in US prisons, dressed in orange jumpsuits and shackled during transfers like criminals. Some of them have been handed over to the FSB and other security services,” he said. 

Around a thousand Russians are currently seeking asylum in the United States. 

Russian opposition figures in exile, including Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Putin’s murdered presidential rival, Aleksei Navalny, have called for support for these people in the face of US government indifference. 

They have called on the Canadian government to grant asylum to Russians currently subject to deportation orders, and especially to those whose antiwar activities are clear. 

The group has warned, the Trump deportation policy “threatens to destroy the lives of many decent and innocent people”. 

There has also been significant opposition to the war within Russia. 

Many thousands of Russians have staged antiwar demonstrations across the country. On the first night of the war alone, the police made 1,820 arrests of peace demonstrators in 58 Russian cities. 

As the demonstrations continued, prominent cultural figures and politicians have spoken out against the war, a million Russians signed an antiwar petition, and Russian soldiers have been refusing to fight in Ukraine. 

Russian authorities have responded with mass arrests – around 19,500 in 2022 alone – huge fines, violence, and new laws providing 10 years imprisonment for spreading “fake” news and five years for “discrediting the army”. 

The intense repression has seen the anti-war movement decline. And between 600,000 and 1.3 million Russians are said to have fled the country because of their opposition to the war or refusal to fight. 

In 2024, a protest against military mobilisation was organised by the “Path Home” movement in Moscow and a protest against military service near the “Black Tulip” memorial in Yekaterinburg. 

Also, relatives of conscripted soldiers mobilised as the ‘White Scarves’ to hold an antiwar demonstration outside the Ministry of Defence building in Moscow. 

These actions saw the security forces arrest participants and journalists who covered the events. 

According to Russian human rights organisation OVD-Info there are almost 1,200 people facing criminal prosecution for anti-war statements or actions.