A Russian national born in 2004 was granted subsidiary protection by the Administrative Court of Berlin, which found that there was a real likelihood that he would be unable to resist pressure to enlist as a so-called 'contract soldier'. In this position, he would face deployment in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and, as a consequence, a risk of inhuman or degrading treatment, including the danger of being killed, injured, or compelled to participate in violations of international law. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) appealed the judgment before the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg.

The Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg overturned the contested judgment, stating that it was not sufficiently convinced that the applicant would face a real and serious likelihood, anywhere in the Russian Federation, of being forced against his will to become a so-called 'contract soldier' and thereby suffer serious harm that would justify the grant of subsidiary protection. The court found that, as a conscript, he was not at risk of being deployed to Ukraine and that a one-year compulsory military service, in itself, did not create a real likelihood of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Furthermore, the applicant did not prove a sufficient and likely risk that would justify a prohibition of deportation.