Mikita Sviryd: The story of a Belarusian deserter in Lithuania
Stuck between the threat of death penalty in Belarus and illegal refugee status in Lithuania
Mikita Sviryd, a Belarusan deserter who, when the war started in Ukraine, fled illegally to Lithuania because he was afraid that the Belarusan army would go to Ukraine to help Russia. Today Mikita is an illegal refugee, Lithuania has denied the young deserter political asylum. In Belarus, desertion can be punishable by death penalty. Today, he is desperate and expects nothing good in his future. What is for geopolitics the fate of one guy who at the age of 19 decided to give up being a soldier? #protection4Nikita
(04.06.2024) My dears, hello to everyone! April was marked by the beginning of another conscription campaign in Russia and reforms of the military enlistment system in Moscow. The Russian government promised and finally adopted the latest regulatory act on the electronic registry of military service and electronic summons: with all these rules, we are facing a rather difficult end of the year. In Armenia, there was the second abduction of a Russian serviceman in five months. We believe that it was carried out by the Russian military police and we are actively monitoring the situation. And our organisation, together with colleagues from Ukraine and Belarus, was awarded the Peace Prize by IPB! Enjoy reading!
41 Israeli reserve soldiers refuse to take part in invasion of Rafah
Newsletter of the Refuser Solidarity Network (RSN)
(02.06.2024) Hi, Mattan here. I am the executive director of RSN and in 2017 I spent 110 days in prison because I refused to serve the Israeli occupation. Two weeks ago, I shared our belief that a new wave of refusal was imminent (...). Last Friday, the first concrete move in this refuser wave went public. 41 Israeli reserve soldiers published a letter declaring that they refuse to take part in the assault on Rafah, endangering uninvolved civilians, the hostages, and themselves. Below is the full text of their letter.
41 israelische Reservesoldat*innen verweigern ihre Beteiligung an der militärischen Invasion von Rafah
Newsletter des Refuser Solidarity Network (RSN)
(02.06.2024) Hallo, Mattan hier. Ich bin Geschäftsführer von RSN und verbrachte im Jahr 2017 110 Tage im Gefängnis, weil ich mich weigerte, der israelischen Besatzung zu dienen. Vor zwei Wochen teilte ich unsere Überzeugung, dass eine neue Welle der Verweigerung bevorsteht (...). Letzten Freitag wurde der erste konkrete Schritt in dieser Verweigerungswelle öffentlich. 41 israelische Reservesoldat*innen veröffentlichten einen Brief, in dem sie erklärten, dass sie sich weigern, an dem Angriff auf Rafah teilzunehmen und damit unbeteiligte Zivilist*innen, die Geiseln und sich selbst zu gefährden. Im Folgenden finden Sie den vollständigen Text des Briefes.
