Many young Russians fled their home country after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, finding refuge in Germany. Now some of them are engaged in local politics. DW tells their stories.
InRussia, speaking out against thewar Moscow has been waging in Ukrainesince February 2022 can quickly get you targeted by the authorities.
Over the last three years, tens of thousands of war-critical Russians have fled their home country to escape repression andcriminal prosecution, andfound a new home in Germany. Some of them now want to make a difference in German politics.
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Ilya Makarov, 21, became politically active in his hometown of Izhevsk in the Ural region shortly after Russia launched its invasion ofUkraine. First, he tried to participate in local elections, but was denied registration as a candidate.
He didn't give up and ran for municipal council inMoscowwith an anti-war campaign. The response from the authorities came swiftly. A week after the elections in September 2022,Makarov faced administrative charges and was detained for 15 days.
After a second arrest in January 2023, Makarov's lawyer warned him that he could face potential criminal prosecution, so he decided to leave Russia and ended up in Worms, a town in the southwestern German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Makarov said he wasn't sure at first whether he wanted to stay in Germany. But "the urge to take an active stance" in the country he lived in took over eventually, he added.
Inspired by theEuropean Parliament elections in July 2024, Makarov joined Germany'sSocial Democratic Party (SPD). The center-left party's program aligned the most with his own views, Makarov told DW.
Makarov was assigned to work on the party's information stands while campaigning in Russian and Ukrainian, which he said he had learned while talking to local Ukrainians, ahead of theGerman parliamentary elections in February 2025. His info booths were mostly set up in districts with large populations of Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking voters. Makarov said the work reminded him of street politics in Russia, with voters sharing their problems that he helped collect and solve.
Going forward, he wants to create a working group of Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking SPD party members on the local level, which would involve translating campaign materials from German and hosting discussion clubs for Russian-speaking activists and party members.
Makarov said he would like to develop his career within the SPD after obtainingGerman citizenship, which he intends to apply for in the future.
Anastasia Lukomskaya, a 35-year-old artist and activist from Moscow, had left Russia for theUnited Arab Emiratesbefore the war in Ukraine began. After Russia's invasion of its neighbor, she realized that coming back home, where she had been detained a few times for attending opposition rallies, could be dangerous.
In summer 2023, she went to Georgia and joined the youth political movement Vesna, or Spring, now labelled an "extremist organization" by the Russian authorities. Later, Lukomskaya relocated to Germany.
After getting to know Germany's political landscape at her government-mandated integration courses, she decided to join the neoliberalFree Democratic Party (FDP).
"Even in Russia there was no political force that matched my views so closely," she said, explaining her choice to DW. She could relate, for example, to the party's economic views and its support for Ukraine and Israel.
During the parliamentary election campaign in February, Lukomskaya, too, was engaged in street-level campaigning, putting to use the experience she had gained as a volunteer for the 2018 presidential campaign of late Russian opposition politicianAlexey Navalny.
Even though Lukomskaya is uncertain about her political future, she would like to produce creative content. She hopes to create art that will convince Germans to vote for the FDP, which did not make it into Germany's parliament in the 2025 election.
Ilya Zernov, 21, was born in Tolyatti, an industrial town in Russia's southwest. He went to college in Kazan, the capital of Russia's Tatarstan republic, where he participated in anti-war activities. As a result, his home was searched by the police. He said officers threatened him and brought him to the police station.
After his release, Zernov spoke to his lawyer and family, and fled toSerbia. In March 2023, he moved toLeipzigand has been living there ever since.
In early 2025, Zernov joined the environmentalistGreen Party, which he says addresses the issues that are important to him.
"I am a vegetarian, and I care about the environment, human rights and international thinking," Zernov told DW. "I don't consider myself completely left-wing, our values just match."
Zernov acknowledged that it's still difficult for him to fully participate in German politics because of the language barrier. But he attends events organized by the party's youth organization, the Green Youth. Recently he was offered to join its working group onmigrant affairs, but has not yet decided whether to accept.
"I have experience as a migrant, but I lack a structural understanding of local problems," Zernov explained, adding that he didn't know yet what new insights he had to offer to the party.
But that doesn't mean he's sitting idly by. Zernov wants to organize letter-writing evenings to support imprisoned left-wing activists in Russia. Long-term, once his German language skills improve, he would like to pursue a career within the Green Party.
But most importantly, he wants "to remain free and find some minimal satisfaction in life."