Security officers were waiting when a flight carrying Russians deported by the United States landed in Moscow in December. Among those on board were activists whose requests for political asylum had been refused. One deportee, Katya, said the experience was deeply frightening. Her name has been changed because she remains in Russia.
Katya had left Russia and applied for asylum in the US two years before her return. US authorities rejected her application after she said she had provided evidence of taking part in protests and belonging to an opposition movement. Her account is backed by another passenger on the flight and by an activist, according to the report.
Deportees describe interrogation and threats on arrival in Moscow
Katya said officers from the FSB security service questioned her and many other passengers for several hours. She said the male deportees were handed military papers and told to register with the local enlistment office, which men are often sent from to fight in Ukraine. At one point, she said, officers found incriminating information on her phone, and their demeanour changed immediately.
Katya was eventually released and allowed to stay with relatives. She said police still call her and visit her home. “I feel as if I’m in a cage, like in a zoo,” she said, adding that she becomes frightened whenever she sees a police car. She showed reporters documents and photographs that support her account, which matches the accounts of other deportees.
Former soldier Artyom said he deserted the Russian army in 2022 after officers threatened to send him to Ukraine. He said he gave US authorities proof that a criminal investigation for desertion had been opened against him in Russia. Despite this, he was placed on a deportation flight to Moscow via Egypt. He said he had been held in a military detention facility after arriving and later escaped, and he is now in hiding abroad.
Forced returns rise from the US and Europe
Activists say deportees from Russia included dissidents and army deserters, some of whom were imprisoned or sent to fight after going back. Removals from the US rose from 222 in 2023 to more than 1,200 in 2025, amid a wider increase in deportations under President Donald Trump’s second term.
Activists cited the case of Leonid Melekhin, an anti-war campaigner who sought asylum in the US after being arrested at protests in Russia. After he was deported last year, he was charged with “justifying terrorism” and sentenced to six years in prison. Andrei Pivovarov, from the exiled opposition Anti-War Committee, said the group knows of people who received eight-year sentences after crossing the Russian border. His organisation now advises dissidents that the EU is no longer safe and that they should seek refuge elsewhere.
Germany has also sharply increased the number of Russians it deports, according to German government figures. Seven were sent back in 2023, rising to more than 110 in 2025. More than 21,000 Russians sought asylum in Germany between 2022 and 2025, but the share of positive decisions fell from 29% in 2023 to 6.8% in the first eleven months of 2025. Germany’s migration and asylum agency, BAMF, said protection is granted only where there is an actual, well-founded fear of persecution. Berlin also suspended its humanitarian visa programme for Russians last year.
EU data show that the proportion of Russian applicants granted some form of asylum protection across the bloc fell from 23% in 2024 to around 17% in the first nine months of 2025. Lawyer Anastasia Burakova, who founded the rights group Kovcheg (Ark), said Western governments are focused on limiting humanitarian programmes and asylum seekers. She said the clampdown responds to public concerns and rising support for right-wing populist parties.
Several Russian activists in exile told reporters that immigration officials had said they faced “no danger” in Russia. They said officials often did not understand the risks activists face. The US Department of Homeland Security said that all illegal aliens receive due process and that anyone a judge finds has no right to remain will be removed.
Finnish asylum refusal leaves couple fearing deportation
Anti-war activist Mikhail and his wife Dasha are awaiting deportation from Finland “any day”. Their names have been changed because Mikhail fears for relatives in Russia. He said Russian authorities blocked his social media accounts over anti-war posts, and police visited his mother and accused him of spreading “fake information”. Dasha is a Jehovah’s Witness, a group banned as “extremist” in Russia.
The couple gave Finnish authorities evidence, including a video of Russian police telling Mikhail’s mother that more than 300 of his posts had violated Russian law. The Finnish Immigration Service has rejected their asylum request five times, finding there is “no reasonable basis to believe” they would face serious rights violations if returned. Amnesty International, which is supporting the couple, says they could face a “real risk” of detention, prosecution, imprisonment and torture.
“We fear for our lives!” Mikhail said, describing his fear that officers could collect them and hand them over at the Russian border. The Finnish Immigration Service said its decisions follow international refugee law standards and that the share of Russian citizens receiving asylum is in line with EU averages. The Russian Embassy in London did not respond to a request for comment.
The deportation fears come as more Russians may be considering leaving. There are rumours that Vladimir Putin may announce a new mobilisation to boost the army in Ukraine, which the Kremlin denies. The last mobilisation, in 2022, prompted hundreds of thousands of Russians to flee, many to ex-Soviet states such as Armenia and Georgia. Burakova’s organisation said requests for help from Russians wanting to leave rose tenfold in August compared with May.
