26-year-old Airman, Lieutenant Dmitry Mishov, Seeks Political Asylum in Lithuania after Dramatic Escape from Russia.

Lieutenant Dmitry Mishov, a young airman from Russia, made a bold decision to turn himself in to Lithuanian authorities, desperately seeking political asylum. With nothing but a small rucksack on his back, Dmitry's escape from Russia was his final option. His case stands as one of the few known instances of active military officers fleeing their country to evade deployment to Ukraine's conflict zone.

A Helicopter Navigator's Escape

Dmitry, an attack helicopter navigator stationed in the Pskov region of north-western Russia, sensed the impending reality of war when preparations for combat began. In January 2022, he attempted to leave the air force, but his paperwork had not been processed when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Consequently, he was dispatched to Belarus, where he piloted helicopters involved in transporting military supplies.

While Dmitry claims he never set foot in Ukraine, the veracity of this statement remains unverified. However, his documents appear genuine, and several of his assertions align with information from other sources.

In April 2022, Dmitry returned to his Russian base, hoping to complete his decommissioning process. Unfortunately, in September 2022, President Putin declared a partial military mobilization, and Dmitry was informed that he would not be allowed to leave the army.

Aware that his deployment to Ukraine was inevitable, Dmitry began seeking ways to evade it. "As a military officer, it is my duty to defend my country from aggression. I should not become an accomplice in a crime. Nobody explained to us why this war started or why we were required to attack Ukrainians and destroy their cities," he stated.

According to Dmitry, the mood within the military is varied. Some soldiers support the war, while others vehemently oppose it. Only a few genuinely believe that they are safeguarding Russia from a genuine threat. The official narrative, for some time, has been that Moscow had to initiate a "special military operation" to prevent an attack on Russia.

Dmitry also highlights widespread dissatisfaction among the ranks due to meager salaries. He reveals that experienced air force officers continue to receive their pre-war contract salaries, which can reach up to 90,000 rubles (£865, $1090). Conversely, new recruits are enticed into the army with an advertised campaign offering 204,000 rubles (£1960, $2465).

According to Dmitry, regardless of their stance on Ukraine, nobody in the military believes the official reports of successful operations or low casualties at the front lines. Such skepticism is overwhelmingly prevalent.

Within the military ranks, there is a widespread disbelief in official pronouncements and a keen awareness of the reality on the ground. These individuals are not like civilians watching events unfold on television; they have firsthand knowledge. The military personnel do not trust the accuracy of the official reports because they simply do not reflect the truth.

Dmitry shares that during the initial stages of the war, the Russian command insisted there were no casualties or equipment losses. However, he personally knew individuals who had been killed. Prior to the conflict, his unit had approximately 40 to 50 aircraft. In the early days of the Russian invasion, six aircraft were shot down, and three were destroyed while grounded.

The Russian authorities rarely disclose military casualties. Last September, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu acknowledged around 6,000 Russian casualties, a number deemed an underestimate by many analysts and even pro-Kremlin military bloggers. As part of an ongoing research project, Olga Ivshina from BBC Russian compiled a list of 25,000 names, including ranks, of soldiers and officers who were killed in the war in Ukraine. However, she believes the actual figures, including those missing in action, are much higher.

Dmitry highlights the exceptionally high losses among military air crews, which aligns with the investigation conducted by Olga Ivshina. The research reveals that Russia has suffered the loss of numerous highly skilled servicemen, including pilots and technicians, whose training is both time-consuming and costly.

"Now they can replace the helicopters, but there is a shortage of pilots," Dmitry remarks. "If we compare this to the Soviet Union's losses of 333 helicopters during the war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, I believe that we have experienced similar losses in just one year."

In the early months of this year, Dmitry received news that he was to be sent on a mission, leaving no doubt in his mind that it meant deployment to Ukraine. Desperate to avoid this fate, he resorted to a suicide attempt, hoping that it would lead to his discharge on health grounds. However, his plan did not succeed.

During his recovery period in the hospital, Dmitry came across an article detailing the successful escape of a former police officer from the same region, who had managed to reach Latvia. Inspired by this account, Dmitry decided to follow suit.

"I was not refusing to serve in the army per se. If my country faced a genuine threat, I would fulfill my duty. However, I could not bear the thought of becoming complicit in a crime," Dmitry explained. "Boarding that helicopter would have meant taking the lives of several dozen people, at the very least. I did not want to be responsible for such actions. Ukrainians are not our enemies."

Dmitry sought assistance through Telegram channels to plan a route through the woods near the EU border. He packed only the essentials, striving to keep his load as light as possible.

Walking through the woods filled him with terror, as he dreaded encountering border guards along the way. "If they had arrested me, I could have faced a lengthy prison sentence," Dmitry confessed.

At one point, he heard the launch of a flyer nearby, followed by another. In a panic, he assumed it was the border guards pursuing him and began running. Disoriented and unable to see clearly, his thoughts were in disarray.

Finally, Dmitry reached a wire fence and managed to climb over it. Soon, he realized he had successfully made it to safety. A sense of relief washed over Dmitry as he uttered, "I could finally breathe freely." He anticipates that the Russian authorities may initiate a criminal case against him, but he holds hope that many of his fellow soldiers will comprehend his motivations.

Some comrades had even suggested he attempt to hide within Russia, but Dmitry believes that even in a country as vast as his own, he would eventually be discovered and punished for desertion.

Uncertainty shrouds Dmitry's future as he contemplates what lies ahead. However, he expresses a preference for embarking on the journey to build a new life within the European Union, rather than living in constant unease and suspense within his homeland.