War against Ukraine: German authorities register more asylum seekers from Russia

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Queues of cars on the border between Russia and Finland: After the partial mobilization had been announced, tens of thousands of Russians fled from the draft, many of them initially to Finland

Photo: Sasu Makinen / Lehtikuva / IMAGO

Tens of thousands of Russians are estimated to have fled abroad to escape military action since Vladimir Putin announced the mobilization on September 21.

Most of them found shelter in Russia's neighboring countries.

In Germany, too, the number of Russians seeking protection in this country has risen significantly - but remains at a low level overall.

According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf), 311 people from Russia applied for asylum in September, 242 of whom were first-time applications - the highest number this year.

In August, a total of 236 Russians applied for asylum, 139 of them for the first time.

In March 2022, shortly after the start of the war, the number of Russian asylum seekers was still 215.

According to SPIEGEL information, the authorities in Bavaria recorded 61 people from Russia in the Easy system, which distributes asylum seekers to the federal states, between the Russian mobilization and October 9.

For comparison: In the period from September 1 to 20, 2022, there were 34 people from Russia, according to the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior.

The reasons for the applications for asylum are not mentioned in the official statistics.

It is therefore unclear how many of the people are seeking protection in Germany because of the partial mobilization.

For Russians, the path to the EU is associated with high hurdles.

Finland, the Baltic states and Poland have now also closed their borders to Russians with a Schengen visa.

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