russia. then they learned some of their russian friends were entering the u.s. they crossed the border from mexico to the united states. it happened so one family and then to another family, and we started to pray. reporter: in late november, with guidance from the u.s. nonprofit organization, they arrived to mexico. this is the video of our apartment. reporter: across the border from south texas. there, michael says up to 700 russians were waiting for their own chance to enter the u.s. legally. all the people that were there, they were against the war. that was the reason why they left russia. this is the day when we crossed the border. reporter: in january, after 40 days of waiting there, they say u.s. immigration authorities allowed them to enter the u.s. legally, under something called humanitarian parole, which allows them to seek asylum while in the u.s. their first weeks in america, they were hosted bypass tors like this family in austin, texas, where nellie celebrat
reporter: michael and nellie loved life in russia, with their two boys, mark and phillip. life was good. reporter: but their world turned upside down last september when vladimir putin declared the first draft since world war ii 2, drafting men michael s age. they re protecting their territories, they re protecting their homes. reporter: michael thought about his own family. i was afraid for my boys, i was afraid for my family. was that your biggest fear? yeah, one of my biggest fears, of course. reporter: at the time, fear spread quickly in russia. wives and mothers wailed at their loved ones were forced to go to war and thousands of russians fled to neighboring countries to avoid the draft. the backup at the russian border seemed endless. turns out, many of them were headed to america.
in fact, the number of russians encountered at the u.s. southern border has nearly tripled since putin imposed the draft, from about 1,600 russianness august of 2022, the month before the draft, to more than 4,500 in january 2023. this is russia, this is the bus station. reporter: fearing michael could be drafted at any moment, they separated. it was just temporary. reporter: michael left russia first to kazakhstan by bus. a week later, nellie and the boys joined him. my favorite moment. i was so happy. crying. reporter: she traveled by train to uzbekistan where they slept on the floor of an apartment they shared with friends for more than a month. but they were nervous bus uzbekistan is a post-soviet country that can be friendly to
december, a stark contrast from the time before putin s order. rosa flores caught up with one russian family who made this daring journey. reporter: michael and nellie loved life in russia. with their two boys mark and phillip. life was good. reporter: but the world turned unless tpside down last september when vladimir putin declared the first draft, drafting men michael s name. i don t want to kill innocent people of ukraine. they are protecting their territories, protecting their homes. reporter: michael thought about his own family. i was afraid for my boys, i was afraid for my family. reporter: was in a ythat you biggest fear? one of my biggest fears, of course. reporter: at the time, fear spread quickly in russia. wives and mothers wailed as their loved ones were forced to go to war and thousands fled to
allows them to seek asylum while in the u.s. their first weeks in america, they were hosted by pastors like this family in austin, texas. nellie celebrated her 27th birthday. and the entire family celebrated being free and safe together. they are in washington state, they are settling into a russian-speaking christian community and they say that they plan to seek asylum. but for now, their future in the united states is still uncertain as you know, it will be up to an immigration judge to determine whether asylum is granted or denied. and right now, they say that their biggest fear is that they could still bedeported back to russia. rosasa flores, cnn, houston. a controversial set of bills