The 30-year-old, a former member of Rosgvardia who fled to Kazakhstan, agreed to report anonymously to franceinfo about his unsuccessful attempt to oppose the war in Ukraine.
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Posted on 2/26/2023 11:39 AM Updated on 2/26/2023 11:39 AM
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He fled Russia to Kazakhstan, leaving his family behind. In Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, franceinfo met Anton*, a former member of the Russian National Guard Rosgvardia. He was staunchly opposed to the war in Ukraine and was eventually released.
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It’s been a year and Anton, the son of a Ukrainian father, will not forget this Thursday February 24, 2022 Ukraine. On the one hand there is a kind of moral responsibility, duty to be against this war. On the other hand, there is the machinery of repression that is deployed. And it destroys you.”
Very quickly Anton speaks out against the war and talks to his superiors about it. “It was difficult, scary. But I had no choice.”
According to official figures, around 400,000 Russians have fled to Kazakhstan (here: Almaty) since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. About 40,000 residence permits were issued to those who found employment there. (VIRGINIE PIRONON / RADIO FRANCE)
The fired young man risks being mobilized. To escape the war he contemplates suicide before fleeing to Kazakhstan. But Anton says he doesn’t blame anyone in Russia who is silent. “Life in Russia is very difficult, people live in poverty. They work in the army, in Rosgwardia or in other state structures.”
“They don’t support Putin. They just want to live and raise their children.”
In exile for several months, the Russian says he cannot bear the situation. Despite the danger: war or prison, he begins to think about returning to Russia.
* The name has been changed
The testimony of a Russian former member of the National Guard who opposed the war, collected by Virginie Pironon
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