"I was scared... I didn't know whether I'd be caught."
Aleksandr hitchhiked, took a plane, a train and multiple taxis to escape Russia.
He had been fighting in Ukraine for six months before he returned home and planned his escape, with all his belongings crammed into one rucksack.
Dmitri, meanwhile, still thinks about his journey and fears that if he tells anyone where he is, the Russian authorities will find him.
"I don't want to tell anyone where I am, it would make it easier for Russia to find me," he told us.
Sky News has gained access inside a Russian network that helps soldiers escape from the frontline in Ukraine, surrender to Kyiv's forces or avoid conscription.
We've spoken to five Russian men who have fled the country and the group behind their escape.
Set up following Vladimir Putin's announcement of a partial mobilisation in September 2022, Idite Lesom has so far assisted more than 23,000 Russians 鈥� from officers to foot soldiers.
Its name in English translates to Go By the Forest or "get lost" - the message its founder says he is sending to Putin and his government.
The group in exile operates almost entirely online with more than 150 volunteers, most of whom are anti-war Russians who fled the country following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Together, they coordinate escape routes across the country's vast forests, advising clients on how to get across borders.
It's an incredibly dangerous task for everyone involved and if caught, deserters can face up to 15 years in prison. Those seeking help and the volunteers know it, but it's a risk they are all willing to take.
THE ESCAPE
Aleksandr, in his 30s, served in the Russian army for six months and fought in some of the most intense areas in Ukraine. He was served his summons at work while in Russia and felt he had no choice but to join the war, even though he did not support it.
"I didn't have the opportunity to refuse and not take it," he said.
But the fighting and endless days of war have stayed with him. "It was mentally hard to be there, I shuddered at explosions nearby it was so loud," he told us, recalling a particular battle where he was "100 metres away from the front trench".
Aleksandr said he saw "hundreds" of his colleagues die, but was told repeatedly that they were "fighting the enemy". He heard about Idite Lesom from a Ukrainian radio station during his time on occupied territory.
When he returned to Russia for a break he took the chance, packed his belongings in one bag, and headed to the airport following the instructions given to him by the group.
He knew that this could be the last time he saw Russia. Aleksandr's journey was filled with fear. "I was scared.... I didn't know if I would be caught," he said.
But not all of those helped by Idite Lesom are on the frontline, many have managed to escape before being drafted.
Dmitri, in his 20s, was also called up to join the army, but was able to escape before being drafted, taking flights with the help of a relative and Idite Lesom.
He left his family behind in Russia and doesn't know whether the authorities inside Russia are looking for him.
But he stands by his decision and said: "One of the simple truths I was taught as a child was not to kill. Whether it's washing floors or working somewhere else, this is better than receiving bloody money."
Returning to Russia is not an option for these men.
Opposing the war and deserting the army is seen as a serious crime in the eyes of Russian law and so they take their journeys knowing that they might not ever return.
'It was definitely the toughest decision of my life, because I never wanted to leave Russia'
Idite Lesom was set up by anti-war activist Grigory Sverdlin more than 1,500 miles away from his hometown of St Petersburg, in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
The former director of Russian homelessness charity, Nochlezhka, left Russia two weeks after the war began. He felt that his vocal anti-war position put him at risk with authorities.
"It was definitely the toughest decision of my life because I never wanted to leave Russia", Grigory said.
He packed his belongings into his car and drove 5,000km through Latvia, Lithuania, down through Turkey and eventually to Georgia. But in September 2022, Putin issued an order calling up 300,000 Russian reservists to support the Kremlin's efforts in Ukraine.
"I didn't think it was possible to keep silent about what's going on. Innocent people were dying and I wasn't able to just watch," he told us.
So he put a call out on Instagram for volunteers to help with his new project, Idite Lesom.
Grigory has since been listed as a Russian "foreign agent" by Moscow's ministry of defence, putting him at greater risk of being targeted. But he is defiant, saying that although he now has to take greater precautions, especially when travelling abroad, it has only strengthened his mission to help Russians avoid the draft.
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THE NETWORK
The group's headquarters is currently based in Tbilisi, with its core team made up of six anti-war Russians. They receive around 150 to 180 messages a day from Russians asking for help and sift through request after request on their laptops.
Some ask for advice on the details for an escape. How can I get across the border? Who can I trust? Meanwhile, others weigh up whether they are ready to take the leap and what it might mean for those they leave behind.
Darya Berg, who leads the group's evacuation efforts, said many of the messages come from women 鈥� the wives, girlfriends, sisters and other relatives of soldiers who are trying to help their loved ones escape.
From officers to lower ranking soldiers, the messages paint a bleak picture of life on the frontline and the desperation from those contacting Idite Lesom.
Some routes are simple, but others are more complex.
The journeys can include a combination of buses, trains, planes and taxis across Russia's borders to nearby and neighbouring countries. Many soldiers have settled or passed through countries including Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia and Turkey.
Idite Lesom claims it has assisted more than 24,000 Russians. They say this includes more than 2,080 deserters, 55 people who have surrendered to Ukrainian forces and thousands of others who remain hiding from the draft inside Russia. The team also offers psychological support and advice about other legal matters when deserting.
THE COST OF ESCAPING
But escaping from Russia is just one of the many tests they face.
Many deserters live in fear of being caught by Russian authorities and live in limbo 鈥� with options for asylum in western Europe, where many of them hope to settle, extremely rare.
The cost is high. In a television address last year, Putin warned those who oppose Russia's invasion of Ukraine that "we will always be able to distinguish between true patriots from scum and traitors".
And the "traitors" caught have not been spared.
In February, a Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine was reportedly found dead in an underground car park in Spain. At the time of Maxim Kuzminov's defection, Russia's foreign intelligence chief said he became a "moral corpse at the very moment when he planned his dirty and terrible crime".
Under Russian law, deserters can face up to 15 years in prison and, since the partial mobilisation, Putin has signed laws toughening punishments.
Aleksandr takes extra caution to avoid detection; he doesn't tell those around him who he really is.
But being caught is a worry both Aleksandr and Dmitri share.
The deserter's names have been changed in this story to protect their identities.
CREDITS:
Reporting and digital production: Olive Enokido-Lineham, OSINT producer
Graphics: Pippa Oakley, designer
Editing: Chris Howard, editor, data & forensics and Natasha Muktarsingh, assistant editor, data & forensics, Amita Joshi-Welton, chief sub-editor, digital
Pictures: Jonna McIver and Jacob Lea-Wilson
Additional imagery: Reuters and Sputnik/Alexei Danichev/Pool via Reuters