Ekaterina Sinitsa (46) led a completely normal life. She worked as a doctor in a hospital, had friends and acquaintances with whom she got along well, and a nice apartment in St. Petersburg where she lived with her husband and their two children. But when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, their world came crashing down little by little.
Sinitsa’s favorite radio station is banned and the phrase “Peace for the world” is suddenly seen as an uprising against the government. At work, colleagues talk about supporting “Special Operation Z” in the neighboring country. A nightmare for the doctor. In April she leaves everything behind and flees to Switzerland with her 17-year-old daughter. From that moment on she lives in a refugee house. Her 18-year-old son remains in Russia.
That she has a Swiss visa is purely coincidental. Her daughter had participated in an exchange program and Sinitsa was visiting. After the start of the war, this is their ticket to freedom.
She led a silent protest
“I’m not a brave person,” the woman, who at least has the courage to leave her beloved home, tells Blick. “I didn’t take to the streets and publicly rebel against the government. I was too scared for that.” But while many Russians still stand behind Vladimir Putin (70) and his March war, Sinitsa cannot stay longer for moral reasons.
In the hospital where she worked, medical brigades were formed for the front, Sinitsa says. Whoever received a letter had to go to the front. While not for combat, bombs can also fall in a sick bay. “In Russia you don’t ask: do you want to go to the front? An order comes from above and you become part of the brigade.”
Sinitsa got scared. Not only surgeons, but also pediatricians gathered in St. Petersburg, she says. Every doctor in Russia receives war training and thus the necessary skills for the front. “I definitely didn’t want to get an order like that,” Sinitsa says.
Your fear is not enough proof
When she arrives in Switzerland, she applies for asylum. “I consider my situation to be life-threatening,” Sinitsa clarifies. Then in August the answer: Application rejected. She and her daughter have to return to Russia. The letter states: “Your asylum application is based solely on the fear of being sent to the front as a doctor in the war in Ukraine.” Look at the documents. According to the Secretariat of State for Migration (SEM), Sinitsa has no evidence to justify her fear.
Lukas Rieder, SEM media spokesperson, says that refusing military service under the Asylum Act is irrelevant for refugees. But: “If in an individual case there are indications that the punishment is not only due to desertion, but, for example, that the punishment is disproportionately high because of political views, the requirements for asylum can be met.” Shouldn’t that apply to Russian deserters?
“The state is allowed to punish people who do not comply with their state obligations,” Nula Frei (35), an expert in migration law at the University of Freiburg, told Blick. This is also the case in Switzerland. “The question is whether the penalty is disproportionate. If the sentence is too high, for example because there is a chance of a maximum of 15 years in prison, this suggests that the political attitude is also punished here.”
The problem: Sinitsa was not active in the opposition in Russia and has no evidence that she was called up. But if she had waited longer, she might not have been able to leave the country. “Of course, a refugee cannot wait for something to happen,” Frei clarifies.
The Russian people have understood that there is war
Several hundred thousand people have fled Russia since the partial mobilization on September 21, including many military-age men, as well as doctors. “The chance that someone will be punished is much higher since the partial mobilization, because many more people from the Russian population can be conscripted,” says Frei. Sinitsa filed a complaint after her asylum application was rejected. The federal administrative court will decide in the coming weeks whether she and her daughter can stay in Switzerland.
In the worst case, she has to go back to Russia. But her escape could cause problems there. “Anyone who applies for refugee status abroad is a traitor to their home country,” she explains. And those who oppose the government in Russia will feel the consequences. Sinitsa makes it clear: “For me it was a political act of resistance to leave my homeland.”