Shunned By The West, Russian Army Deserters Live In Constant Fear

Since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, many Russians have sought to find refuge in France, which has a long tradition of welcoming political exiles.

Russian officer Farkhad Ziganshin had prepared himself for a life of military service since a young age. He could never have imagined that one day he would become a deserter and flee the country.Russia's invasion of Ukraine changed everything.

"I don't support what's happening in Ukraine, I don't support the government we've had for so many years," Ziganshin, 24, told AFP in Kazakhstan, where he fled in September 2022 after Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's first military mobilisation since World War II.

Faced with a choice between taking part in a war of aggression or going to prison for refusing to fight in Ukraine, hundreds of deserters and draft dodgers have fled to neighbouring ex-Soviet countries where they are now stuck in limbo.