Tens of thousands of Russian men are fleeing to Kyrgyzstan to escape the war draft. In doing so, these men are self-exiling themselves from their homeland and burning their bridge to Russia.
Russia, having issued a military draft, is calling 300,000 civilian men to fight Ukraine. The Russian government is also prohibiting the sale of airplane tickets to Russian men between the ages of 18 and 60 in hopes of preventing Russians from leaving. Many of these men have refused to fight and will not comply. With a 15-year sentence imposed for draft dodging and no opt-out process, these Russians have fled for Kyrgyzstan, formerly part of the Soviet Union. Kyrgyzstan has been welcoming to these Russian refugees.
The President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, has been extremely supportive to the influx of Russians moving to his country, allowing them to gain residency and start working. Recognizing that millions of Kyrgyzs lived in Russia, he feels that letting these immigrants into Kyrgyzstan is the right thing to do, saying, “their citizens can of course come here and work freely.”
Russians moving to Kyrgyzstan is an overwhelmingly net positive for the country. With many well-educated and highly trained Russians moving to Kyrgyzstan, the country has more highly-skilled workers than ever before.
The men who fled to Kyrgyzstan are not the stereotypical anti-war advocates that were seen in the Vietnam War. These men are fleeing for their lives. They aren’t necessarily against the war; with the small minority of men who support the war efforts, however, they don’t want to lose their lives fighting in it.
Russian men who left their country do not like the term “draft dodger” but prefer the term called “relokaty,” which is a term that originated from Belarus regarding people who relocated from the evil dictatorship which ruled that country.
This severe migration is not only happening in Kyrgyzstan, but in Kazakhstan, Armenia, Yerevan and many more. No matter where Russians flee, the reason is the same: these men do not want to participate in the war against the Ukrainian people.
