A U.S. deportation flight carrying 64 Russian nationals landed in Moscow this week, with men aboard receiving military conscription notices immediately upon arrival, according to activists and relatives of those deported.
The flight departed Arizona around midday on Dec. 7 and stopped in Cairo, Egypt, where Russian passengers were separated from other deportees, including Iranians, before continuing to Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, landing at 2:39 a.m. local time on Dec. 9, according to flight tracking data and The New York Times.
“There were people who, unfortunately, were deported because they did not receive asylum,” Dmitry Valuev, president of U.S. diaspora organization Russian America for Democracy in Russia, said in a video statement. “These are people who hold opposition views — people who have pro-democratic, pro-European views, and it is a great tragedy.”
Men on the flight were handed military summons immediately upon landing, Valuev told the exiled Russian outlet Agenstvo. The exiled Russian outlet Mediazona cited a relative of one passenger as saying there were 64 passengers on the plane.
Third deportation flight under Trump
The Dec. 9 flight was the third such charter plane carrying Russians deported from the U.S. under the Trump administration. Previous flights in June and August facilitated the deportation of more than 80 Russians, according to media reports based on interviews with people on the flights.
The deportations come as thousands of Russians have fled persecution at home in recent years by going to the U.S., where they can attain permission to stay by applying for asylum. But many have been caught up in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Through the end of October, Trump’s administration has conducted 1,701 deportation flights to 77 countries, marking a 79% increase over the same period in 2024 when the Biden administration carried out removals to 43 countries, according to Department of Homeland Security data.
Draft dodgers face imprisonment
Previous cases have seen draft dodgers and activists face imprisonment after being deported back home.
Artyom Vovchenko was one of them. After abandoning his military post — a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison — the 26-year-old Russian went to the U.S. to seek asylum. He was deported in August, according to The New York Times.
The last time anyone saw Vovchenko, he was being escorted by security officers in a Russian airport.
Valuev said he did not know the exact number of Russians who were deported as part of the most recent effort or their specific circumstances.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Russia’s Federal Security Service could not immediately be reached for comment.
Russia has been mobilizing troops for its war in Ukraine since September 2022, when President Vladimir Putin announced a “partial mobilization.” Hundreds of thousands of Russian men fled the country to avoid conscription, with many seeking asylum in the United States and Europe.
