On 3rd July 2025, peace campaigners from around the UK held an online discussion with Russian conscientious objectors (COs) who are refusing to fight in the war in Ukraine.

As the war rages on, a huge number of Russians have either refused conscription or deserted the Russian military, often facing severe punishment and long term imprisonment. Numbers are hard to come by, but according to one estimate from 2022, 180,000 people fled Russia immediately following Putin's mobilisation order.

The online event brought together four Russian COs, coordinated by a contact in Georgia who works with several NGOs to support COs, along with British peace campaigners working to raise awareness about their struggles.

The COs have all fled Russia and joined the meeting from Argentina, Croatia, Germany and Armenia, demonstrating the extreme lengths Russian COs have to go to in order to avoid participating in the war.

The discussion was run by a coalition of thirteen UK peace groups and attended by around fifty people. For security reasons, attendance of the event was restricted to members of the participating organisations.

After opening remarks by Geoff Tibbs, from the Peace Pledge Union, and Paula Shaw, from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, there was an introduction by Mikheil Elizbarashvili, based in Georgia, who founded a councelling project for COs with ACT for Transformation Caucasus Office in 2022 and works with the Peace and Service Network's subgroup for COs and Georgian Quakers.

He explained the extreme challenges faced by Russian COs who have fled to surrounding countries: "The main request from Russian COs and deserters... is to move to a safe country, where the rule of law applies.... Unfortunately, when conscientious objectors or deserters apply for humanitarian visas in their host countries, providing available evidence, they are usually denied or don't get any answer."

The names of the Russian COs in the testimonies below have been withheld.

One CO, who was an officer in the Russian army and now lives in Argentina, said: "During my short military service, I spoke to soldiers who were at the front line. They told me that Russian soldiers there are forced to carry out criminal orders and loot just to find food... Desertion was the only way for me to get out. I was faced with the choice to desert or go to war, so I decided to desert."

The second CO was a 25-year-old deserter currently living in Croatia. He said: "Before the war I was... attending some anti-corruption protests in Moscow. And when the war started, I knew that I didn't want to be a part of that war machine. I didn't want to participate in that. And so I got my travel documents and I wanted to leave the country, but unfortunately, I was not able to... I decided to hide at my friend's house in the Moscow region. And one day I was going home to tell my parents that... I don't want to be mobilized. I just wanted to talk to them... I entered the Metro Station, and then I noticed that there are two police officers going after me... They told me that, actually, the face recognition system worked on me... They took me to a mobilisation centre, and you cannot actually escape it because it is surrounded by police... I was stuck in there. And I couldn't do anything... In a couple of months, they sent us to Ukraine, and after a couple more months I finally managed to escape."

Mikheil translated a testimony by another Russian CO from Russian: "He applied for asylum in Germany and he lives now in a refugee camp... He's father of four children. His family is back in Russia... He is a former officer of the Russian army and he escaped from his military unit soon after the war started." After a few months, he discovered the Russian authorities were searching for him, forcing him to flee first to Armenia, then to Germany.

The fourth CO described how his attitude to military service changed following Putin's full-scale invasion, which he opposed from the start. He was sent to fight in Ukraine in 2024. "Without a day's hesitation, with the help of the organization Go By The Forest I flew to Armenia, where I still live. A criminal case was opened against me... Currently, my parents are being persecuted in Russia. The Russian authorities are creating problems at work, wiretapping phones, threatening. I know that representatives of the Russian military police have left their unit for Armenia and are looking for me here. I think that if they catch me, they can send me to Russia and then to war against my will. I fear for my health and life."

All four COs expressed their gratitude to Mikheil and his organisations Peace and Service Network and Georgian Quakers, which support COs escaping Russia, whether by helping them move to safe countries, offering professional training to enable them to work, or offering counselling.

The event was organised by a coalition of British peace organisations who mark International Conscientious Objectors' Day on May 15th every year: Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, Conscience: Taxes For Peace Not War, Fellowship of Reconciliation, ForcesWatch, Movement for the Abolition of War, Network for Peace, Pax Christi, Peace & Justice (Scotland), Peace Pledge Union, Quakers in Britain, The Right to Refuse to Kill Group, War Resisters' International and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.