Akhemtganayev is one of some 600 officers and enlisted men who deserted between the reunification of Germany in 1990 and the withdrawal of the last of the 390,000 troops who had been stationed in the east in 1994.
They sought political asylum from Bonn, but last year the federal refugee agency rejected most of the petitions, ruling that desertion was an ordinary crime that did not deserve special treatment.
Since then, the deserters and their families, some 1,244 people in all, have been fighting their cases in the courts. No deportations have yet been ordered, but for many the countdown has already begun as they have little recourse left.
"In Russia they face 15 years in jail, and even the death penalty," said lawyer Horst Eylmann, a member of parliament for Germany's ruling Christian Democrats.
The threat is all the greater in that the deserters have all been interviewed by German, British or U.S. intelligence agents, which makes them guilty of treason in Moscow's eyes.
"An officer of the BND, the German intelligence service, questioned me for a whole day. He told me, 'You will be given political asylum after the interrogation,' and I realized I had no choice," said Akhemtganayev, 47, who commanded a tank unit based at Frankfurt-on-Oder.
The deserters were questioned at length on morale in the Red Army, their bases and their equipment, vital information at a time when the Cold War was only just ending.
Many of the deserters found jobs in Germany. Akhemtganayev, a missile specialist, learned to be a heating engineer, while a colleague was employed on building sites.
Their only hope now rests in a political decision by the German government. Members of parliament from all parties have already intervened in their favor.
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