Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

In 2025, journalist Irina Novik, who collaborates with several well-known media outlets, published a documentary book titled "I Am a Deserter." The book tells the stories of 14 Russian soldiers who were forced to flee the Russian Federation in order to avoid participating in the war unleashed  against Ukraine.   

According to Novik, the number of soldiers who have fled the war unleashed by Putin is more than ten thousand. They are fleeing, because they refuse to kill and be killed.   

The heroes of this book are rebels, devout muslims, professional athletes and former convicts. Some escaped directly from military units, while others had to carve out their path to freedom right from the trenches and this is not an exaggeration. Some have made it to Europe and Argentina, while others have stayed in Armenia. 

The chapter 8th of the book, titled “Why did you leave your country?’’ is dedicated to a soldier who fled the battlefield, who attempted to come to Armenia from Georgia, but the border guards arrested the latter to extradite him to Russia. That chapter showcases the legal support provided by Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor, due to which the soldier is now free and will not be extradited to the Russian Federation. 

HCAV continues to be engaged in the prevention of  the cases of extradition. Anyone who is in the Republic of Armenia and is subjected to persecutions by an authoritarian state, can report to the Organization. 

Reminder;

According to the RA Constitution, Domestic legislation, the International agreements and conventions ratified by the RA, no one can be extradited to a foreign country, even if it is their country of citizenship, if there is a real danger that such person may be subjected to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment in that country.