Russian soldiers on Red Square in Moscow
Photo: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV /AFP
The Greens and FDP parliamentary groups are calling on the federal government to grant Russian deserters protection in Germany.
“Anyone who faces conscription and doesn't want to be part of a war crimes army is opposed to the Putin system.
We Europeans should now quickly grant asylum to Russian regime opponents as well as innocent deserters," Johannes Vogel, first parliamentary secretary of the FDP parliamentary group, told SPIEGEL.
"The Russians who are on the side of justice and peace are on the right side," emphasized the deputy leader of the FDP.
The Greens are also calling for protection for Russian conscientious objectors.
“Putin is the greatest threat to Russian speakers.
We can and should protect Russian deserters from Putin's mobilization and grant them temporary asylum," Green foreign policy expert Robin Wagener told SPIEGEL.
In the course of the partial mobilization called by President Vladimir Putin, the Federation Council in Moscow decided on Wednesday that Russians of draft age can in future be sentenced to up to ten years in prison if they refuse to take part in combat operations.
After partial mobilization, 300,000 reservists are to be drafted into the Russian army.
"Nobody should be forced to take part in this madness," said Green Party politician Wagener, who is also chairman of the German-Ukrainian parliamentary group.
Wagener emphasized that there are still oppositional voices in Russia - the latest reports about sold-out flights from Russia speak for this.
"We must offer protection and accommodation for democratic opposition members and journalists and enable them to continue their work for a democratic Russia from here," Wagener demanded.
