A Russian national called up for military service in Ukraine has been granted asylum by the Canadian government after a lawyer argued the 19-year-old had a real fear of persecution.
Russian national Trofim Modlyi was in Canada visiting his sister, a Canadian citizen, in Alberta last year when Russia invaded Ukraine in February and has remained in Canada since the outbreak of the war. When his parents in Russia received a notice of military service for the teen he decided to apply for asylum.
“There is no possibility for me to [go] home because I would be drafted [into] the war, and I don’t want to take part in it. I don’t want to kill innocent people in Ukraine,” Modlyi told broadcaster CBC.
Immigration and refugee lawyer Simon Yu stated that Modlyi, who he helped with the refugee claim, could not return to Russia because there was a fear of persecution upon his…
