The BBC spoke to Katya, a Russian woman who fled the country and claimed asylum in the US two years earlier after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Her asylum application was rejected by US authorities, despite what she says was evidence that she took part in protests and belonged to an opposition movement.
"It was unbelievably frightening. My knees were shaking with fear," she said. Her name has been changed to protect her identity because she remains in Russia.
In Moscow, Katya said officers from the FSB security service gave all the male deportees on the flight military papers, requiring them to register with the local enlistment office, from where men are often sent to fight in Ukraine. Another passenger on the flight and an activist confirmed her account.
The case highlights a broader shift. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, many countries publicly welcomed Russians fleeing the war. More than four years later, the BBC reports, attitudes have hardened and the numbers of anti-war Russians forcibly returned from Western countries is rising.