Rocket builder escaped from Russia and fights with the FSB, which is trying to bring him back to his homeland

Anatoly Lazarev, 68, who worked for the Russian space corporation Roskosmos, fled extortion and persecution from the Russian FSB to Hungary seeking asylum. But the court rejected his asylum applications, reports with the BBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

Anatoly Lazarev, 68, displays his right hand to reveal a hard black plastic bracelet attached to it. "Made in Israel!" he laughs. At least house arrest is better than extradition arrest.

The bracelet sends signals to the radio in his living room to ensure he doesn't stray more than a few miles from the small, comfortable home where he spends his hours waiting to see if his wife and two children, aged seven and ten, can stay in Hungary.

On the subject: Ukraine introduces visa regime with Russia

His work at the Russian space corporation Roskosmos and later at its subsidiaries put him at the forefront of rocket science, building fuel systems for Sputnik, Proton and Angara rockets.

The problems began, according to him, in 2012. His company was "invited" to donate the equivalent of $1 million to United Russia, Vladimir Putin's political party. When he refused, a series of investigations were opened against his company, first by the civil and then by the military prosecutor's office. Then came visits from the FSB, the successor to the KGB.

"Why don't you just pay?" asked the police inspector. He did not — and by 2018, when it became clear that the persecution would continue, he fled Russia via Belarus by car, carefully avoiding flights.

It was no coincidence that he chose Hungary as his new home. He explained: “I once visited a friend at a resort here, I liked it and I thought that one EU country would be very similar to another. And if need be, the courts will protect me.”

In August 2019, Hungarian police arrested him at home based on an Interpol warning issued by Russian prosecutors. He was taken away in handcuffs after his lawyer had already applied for asylum.

In April 2020, a Hungarian court ruled that he be released under house arrest, which means he is barred from leaving the country. The Hungarian Asylum Authority asked another court authority to review its decision to reject his asylum application.

The Asylum Service — or, to use its full name, the National Headquarters of the Aliens Police — refused on the grounds that Russia’s chief prosecutor “provided guarantees that their request (for extradition) was not directed to political persecution on political grounds.” , ethnic, religious, national or other sign.

This was presented as "new evidence".

“I think the influence of the Hungarian government's policy is evident in the asylum authority's decision,” said Tamás Fazekas, a lawyer with the Hungarian Helsinki Committee who represents Lazarev.

“When we are so dependent on Russian oil and gas, and it is so clear that the Hungarian prime minister is friends with Putin, it would be not just naive, but stupid to believe that this does not influence the government’s decisions,” he said.

Since returning to power in 2010, Hungary's Viktor Orban has maintained what he calls a "pragmatic" relationship with Russia, holding annual meetings with President Putin and negotiating long-term contracts for Russian gas, oil and nuclear energy. Most recently, the prime minister successfully secured an exemption for Russian pipeline oil and vetoed the addition of pro-war Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill to the EU sanctions list.

When asked why they believed the Russian prosecutor's office, and not the opinion of independent Hungarian courts in the Lazarev case, Orban's office replied: “The National Police Headquarters for Foreigners, as a law enforcement agency, operates on the basis of the current legislation and makes individual decisions within the framework of its procedures, which are supported by information about the country from a wide range of Hungarian and international sources. The authorities take care that the source used is objective and does not generalize any constitutional, social, legal or institutional component of the country of origin.”

Back home in western Hungary, Anatoly Lazarev showed scale models of the rockets he had been working on. There were Sputnik and Proton rockets in a glass case in the corridor; in his bedroom is the pride of the Russian cosmonautics "Angara". Its last launch was in April of this year.

His children played in their room, speaking Hungarian. “My son recently told me that he even dreams in Hungarian now,” he said. — I fully understand that Hungary is a very small country surrounded by large countries. It must be very difficult to pursue independent politics."

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

Another case involving a Russian gives him hope. Businessman Aleksei Torubarov was eventually granted asylum in 2019 after his case reached the European Court of Justice.

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