Germany has approved just 349 of over 6,000 asylum requests from Russian men since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine

Between early 2022 and April 2025, a total of 6,274 Russian men aged 18 to 45 with Russian citizenship applied for asylum in Germany. Of these, only 349 were granted refugee status, subsidiary protection, or protection under a deportation ban, Berliner Morgenpost reports, citing a response from Germany’s Interior Ministry to a parliamentary inquiry by Left Party Bundestag member Clara Bünger.

The rest of the applications were either rejected or did not require a decision — for example, because another country had already taken responsibility for the asylum request.

Bünger submitted the inquiry to determine to what extent Germany is granting asylum to Russian draft evaders and others refusing to participate in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

She called the approval of just 349 cases “shamefully low,” arguing that the promise made by former Chancellor Olaf Scholz “hasn’t even come close to being kept.” In 2022, after Vladimir Putin declared mobilization in Russia, Scholz’s spokesperson said Russians unwilling to fight in the war could apply for asylum in Germany, and that draft evasion would be considered a “strong reason” for approval.