Russian Army Deserter Detained in NATO Country

Border guards report capturing a 41-year-old Russian army deserter believed to have been fighting in Ukraine before crossing illegally into NATO country Poland, from Belarus.

It marks what appears to be the first publicly-known case of a Russian army deserter attempting to cross into Poland, a strong opponent of Moscow's action against Ukraine.

The man was wearing plain clothes, unarmed and in possession of Russian military documents, including a contract with the army for participation in the country's ongoing war against Ukraine, said Polish radio station RMF FM.

The Latvia-based Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported in February that many army deserters would normally flee to Kazakhstan, which has close ties with neighboring Russia, and Russians are not required to have an overseas passport to enter the country.

"The Border Guard confirms the detention of a deserter from Russia. He is a 41-year-old man who illegally crossed the border from Belarus to Poland. Further actions are being taken against him," said a post translated from Straż Graniczna, described as the "official profile of the Polish Border Guard" on X, formerly Twitter.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign and Defense Ministries for comment, as well as the Polish foreign ministry by email.

Desertion has been an issue for Russia's military throughout Russian President Vladimir Putin's attempted full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In November 2022, the U.K. Ministry of Defence said Kremlin generals may have sanctioned the use of weapons against deserters, "including possibly authorizing shooting to kill such defaulters after a warning had been given."

Desertion from the Russian army carries a 10-year prison sentence. In February, a Russian anti-war project named "Get Lost," which was created to help Russian men evade or escape conscription, said cases of desertion from the Russian military increased tenfold this year.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) said last month that thousands of Russian soldiers are deserting the army. Troops under Russia's Southern Military District deployed to fight in the war are increasingly fleeing their posts, it said.

More than 18,000 Russian servicemen of the Southern Military District have deserted their posts; around 12,000 of them belong to the 8th Combined Arms Army, a unit "which the enemy constantly engages in hostilities in the east of Ukraine," the HUR said on Telegram. Some 2,500 troops have deserted the Russian 58th Combined Arms Army, it added.

News of the detention comes at a time when tensions between Russia and NATO member Poland are mounting over the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Warsaw has been forced to scramble its fighter jets to protect its airspace during large-scale Russian missile strikes on Ukraine. Poland has said that Russian missiles fired at western Ukraine entered its airspace on multiple occasions. Russia has said incursions were accidental.

Warning of the growing threat from Russia, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has said Poland "wouldn't be surprised at all" if Warsaw comes under attack from Moscow in the future.

"Russia has attacked Poland many times in the 500 years of our history," he said in an interview with German newspaper Bild last month. "But in this scenario, Russia will lose, because we, the West, are far more powerful than Russia."

In March, Putin dismissed any suggestions that his country could launch an attack on a NATO member, saying such speculation is "sheer nonsense." But more recently, the Russian leader ordered tactical nuclear weapons drills over what his defense ministry described as "provocative statements and threats" from the West.

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