Six non-governmental human rights organizations on Tuesday sent an appeal to the Croatian government asking for asylum and protection to Russians fleeing their country following Moscow's decision to mobilize some 300,000 reservists.

The NGOs asked for the same rules applied to Ukrainian refugees to be extended to Russians.

“We are asking the government to make it possible for Russian nationals who refuse to go to war in Ukraine to access the system of international protection, and we are calling on members of the European Parliament, notably Vukovar war veteran Predrag-Fred Matic, to put forward a resolution granting EU countries’ assistance to people escaping from Putin’s army,” state agency Hina said, citing the open letter signed by the Antifascist League of Croatia, Documenta – Centre for Dealing with the Past, the Center for Peace Studies, the Center for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights Osijek, the 1st Zagreb Gymnasium, and the Women in Black NGO.

“It is in everyone’s interest for the war in Ukraine to end, but before that, it is necessary to protect all opponents of Putin’s policy in Russia, who have been protesting since the 2014 attack, risking their freedom and lives,” the NGOs say in their appeal.

“EU member countries have the obligation to provide international assistance to people who, by returning to their country, would face the risk of persecution, torture or death, and that refers to all those evading forced mobilization in this cruel war,” they added.

Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of mobilization of some 300,000 reservists, protests across the country sprang up, leading to more than 1,500 arrests, they said, adding that “many of the arrested have been sent directly to fight in Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, some European countries have completely barred entry to all Russian nationals while others have made it much harder for Russian nationals to get an entry visa. The NGOs also compared the situation with tens of thousands of deserters from the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) who in the 1990s refused to go to war in Croatia, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“According to data from the Serbian Women in Black human rights NGO, in 1991 alone 100,000 young men fled Serbia to avoid getting drafted for war. Serbian authorities launched criminal proceedings against 10,000 of them,” they said.