US deports dozens of Russians in a single day despite some being at risk of political persecution

The US authorities deported somewhere between 30 and 60 Russian citizens on a single day earlier this week, Dmitry Valuev, the president of the nonprofit Russian America for Democracy in Russia, told independent media outlet Agentstvo on Friday.

Valuev said the mass deportation occurred on Wednesday, with the Russians first being flown to Egypt, where they were met by members of the Egyptian secret services before being placed on a flight to Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport. Some of the Russians attempted to change their flights, but were beaten by Egyptian security forces, Valuev said.

The Russians deported from the US were either in immigration prisons, awaiting deportation, had lost their asylum claims or had decided to leave the US without waiting for a court decision, Valuev said, adding that some deportees feared political persecution in Russia. Agentstvo said that among those expelled from the US was a former serviceman who faced charges for desertion in Russia who had applied for asylum in the US, but was turned down.

The passengers that flew from Egypt to Moscow faced long interrogations at the Russian border, Valuev said. At least one person was detained, while several others were released on bail, he said.

Vladimir Osechkin, the founder of human rights organisation Gulagu.net, first highlighted the mass deportation on Thursday. He too said the Russians went through a “filtration” system at the border in Moscow, where they were interrogated for several hours, while some of them were beaten.

This was the second mass deportation of Russians from the US this summer, Valuev said, as the US authorities had also deported about 40 people to Russia in June.