The paratrooper Pavel Filatyev, who escaped from Russia, participated in a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and then condemned the war, received political asylum in France. This is reported by the «Agency» with reference to Filatiev himself.
From February to April 2022, Filatiev fought in Ukraine, he served in the 56th Air Assault Regiment. Later, he was injured, as a result of which he was able to quit. In the summer of 2022, he published the book ZOV 56, in which he described the conditions of service and procedures in the Russian army, as well as his impressions of the first months of the invasion.
In the publication, and then publicly, Filatiev condemned the war with Ukraine. After that, he left Russia, fearing political persecution, and in October 2022 he asked for political asylum in France.
«We got fucked, sorry.» Paratrooper Pavel Filatiev participated in the invasion of Ukraine, and then wrote an anti-war book about it and left Russia
Employees of the human rights organization Gulagu.net, in particular, its founder Vladimir Osechkin, helped the man go abroad. According to Osechkin, Gulagu.net employees spent 10,000 euros to take Filatyev to a safe place. According to the Agency, human rights activists were raising funds for the evacuation of the paratrooper. “During the evacuation, the organization’s crypto wallets received more than 13 thousand euros, according to data from the Blockchair service,” the newspaper writes. Later, the New dissidents foundation, associated with Osechkin, also participated in the publication of Filatiev's book in the West.
Once in Paris, Filatiev transferred the rights to his book to the New dissidents foundation, but later he decided to go to court demanding that the agreement on the transfer of rights be declared invalid. The former soldier referred to the fact that there were violations in the contract. In addition, he said that Osechkin put pressure on him and convinced that it would be difficult for a former military man from Russia to open accounts in France, so it would be better to transfer the rights to the book to the fund. Filatiev also told the Agency that the New dissidents foundation did not prepare documents for paying contractors and paying advances.
Osechkin himself insists that Filatiev did not change his mind because of violations by the fund. “But when Pavel found out that the amount of income from the book would be more than €300,000 and all these funds would be sent to Ukraine affected by the war, he fled to Paris, and from there he began a dirty campaign to discredit us, our help, and filed a deliberately false denunciation with the obvious lie that the alleged agreement was signed under pressure and threats,” the publication of the founder of Gulagu.net says.
Osechkin also said that Filatiev «refused to testify to investigators and prosecutors from Ukraine in December 2022.» In a conversation with the Agency, the serviceman explained that in order to testify, he had to visit the Ukrainian representation. He did not do this because of fears that he would be detained and transferred as part of the exchange to Russia, however, according to Filatiev himself, he later met with representatives of Ukraine in a cafe.
On April 18, 2022, the Osechkin Foundation acknowledged that there were violations in the contract and filed a counterclaim against Filatiev for compensation for the funds spent on his evacuation. At the same time, the amount indicated in the claim amounted to five thousand euros — in addition, the fund's employees demanded three thousand euros as compensation. Later, a court in Paris declared the agreement on the transfer of rights to the book invalid. The court also rejected all the claims of the New dissidents foundation, ordered the foundation to reimburse Filatiev's legal costs and pay him compensation of six thousand euros.
In March 2023, Osechkin accused Filatyev of lying — according to the founder of Gulagu.net, the serviceman hid «information about the murders of Ukrainians, in whose detention he took part.» Osechkin came to these conclusions after reading Filatyev's interview with the Swedish edition Dn.se. In it, the man said that he learned from his colleagues about the murders of Ukrainians, whom he took prisoner. Filatiev himself insists that the accusations against him are based on an incorrect interpretation of the Dn.se material.