The United States has quietly resumed deporting Russians denied asylum back to their motherland, reported The Guardian.

At least one Russian asylum seeker was deported over the weekend, the British newspaper reported on Saturday, just over a year after the Biden administration suspended deportation flights to Russia, Ukraine and seven other European countries citing the “ongoing humanitarian crisis” in Ukraine.

Russian men have fled their homeland to countries as varied as South Korea, Thailand and Germany to dodge the military draft announced in September 2022.

Kremlin officials reportedly estimated 700,000 men left the country in under two weeks. 

Nearly 22,000 Russians have tried entering the US since Russia implemented a nationwide military draft last year, CNN reported in February, including two who famously braved sea winds for five days to reach Alaska in a dinghy.

Texas lawyer Jennifer Scarborough, who represents several Russians facing deportation, told the Guardian that one of her clients was deported from the US, with more facing a “pending removal” threat of being sent back to Russia, which launched a “special military operation” in neighbouring Ukraine on Feb 24, 2022. 

Her clients appear to have experienced inconsistent interpretations over whether fear of conscription constitutes a “credible fear” that would lead to asylum approval by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Two remain in “legal limbo” after ICE officers ruled through an interview they did not meet the criteria...