October 29, 2026 at 19:00 on Liberty cafe Lisbon (Rua da Esperança, 21, Lisboa) there will be a 📖 Returning the Names
🙋 185th Weekly protest
Sweden denied travel document to Russian volunteer who fought for Ukraine
You’re watching news from the weekly rally in front of the Russian Embassy in Lisbon. Today is October 24th, 2:30 PM.
On October 21, the Ukrainian volunteer network Solidarity Collectives reported that the Swedish Migration Agency refused to issue a new travel document to Alexei Makarov, a Russian political refugee who fought on Ukraine's side. Without a travel document, he is effectively unable to leave Sweden. He was previously denied citizenship, but deportation, fortunately, is not yet on the table. The volunteers call the situation political repression, urging the public to support Makarov and fear further restrictions, including the possible loss of his refugee status.
t.me/SolidarityCollectives/3299
Journalists from The Insider spoke with Makarov and reviewed the agency's September 7 decision. On February 6, the Swedish Security Police, Säpo, said issuing a travel document would run counter to national security interests. Makarov was barred, under threat of criminal prosecution, from disclosing the basis for that decision. He took the risk and told journalists he had been informed of alleged dangerous activity abroad, without the country being specified. He believes that meant Ukraine, because it is the only country where he has spent an extended period outside Sweden. "Basically, I see this as Swedish intelligence services banning me from continuing the fight against the Russian state," he said.
Makarov opposed the Russian regime long before the war. He had been involved in the opposition movement since 2004, left Russia in 2009 because of persecution and received refugee status in Sweden in June 2011. In June 2022, he went to Ukraine. He initially fought as a volunteer, without a contract or pay, in the Ukrainian Armed Forces' 95th Air Assault Brigade, then served in the International Legion and co-founded the Siberian Battalion. In November 2023, Makarov was wounded near Avdiivka, and in February 2024 he helped cover the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the city. He later suffered a more serious wound.theins.ru/news/298571 The Siberian Battalion together with anarchist Makarov, was founded by Vladislav Ammosov, a former GRU officer, and Ildar Dadin, an opposition activist who fell in battle in Ukraine. The unit began forming in spring 2023 at the initiative of the Civic Council, a group of Russian citizens fighting against Putin. The unit operated under the command of Ukraine's Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.
verstka.media/s-chem-stalkivayutsya-rossijskie-dobrovolczy-voevavshie-za-ukrainu Former fighters reported conflicts with Ukrainian commanders. According to a March 12 investigation by Verstka, Ammosov left after disagreements with his superiors, and about 20 others left the battalion along with Dadin. Volunteer figters interviewed by journalists described threats when they tried to leave. In one case, commanders refused to confirm the service of Russians seeking asylum in Poland.
verstka.media/s-chem-stalkivayutsya-rossijskie-dobrovolczy-voevavshie-za-ukrainu In an interview published in summer 2024, Makarov said he and like-minded activists had tried to create an independent anarchist unit within the Ukrainian army but ran into military bureaucracy and other obstacles. That effort was part of his yearslong struggle against Russian authoritarianism.
www.avtonom.org/news/golos-s-ukrainy-vremya-organizorvyvatsya In October 2024, the Civic Council released a report, "The Veterans Without Motherland," saying that after serving, Russians face problems with documents and legal status, and that returning to Russia is not an option for them.
civiccouncil.info/veterany-bez-rodiny/ Russia is not their property.
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