In the months that followed Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an estimated 400,000 Russians fled abroad. Most were disgusted by the war and had a premonition that things would only get worse. For these conscientious objectors who fled early, life has settled into a dangerous limbo.
In early February, I interviewed three Russians currently living in Turkey – Anastasiia Saifulina, who works in marketing, and Vladimir Dvurechensky and Alexandra Smolik, who are married IT entrepreneurs. All three are young, educated, and had remote jobs.
They lamented the suffocating political atmosphere in Russia, where protests have been effectively outlawed since 2014 and anyone who disobeys is arrested "within seconds." When the invasion began, an anti-war movement erupted throughout the country but was quickly repressed. However, upon seeing fellow Russians proudly wearing pro-war "Z" insignias, Dvurechensky realized that "not only is our government insane, the people are sick." When Moscow bombed a theater filled with children in Mariupol last March, possibly killing hundreds, he and his wife fled.
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Emigration didn’t liberate them from the Kremlin’s grasp, as criticizing the government abroad endangers one’s family members back home. "If we go to a protest, they will arrest our families. So we keep silent. I know what Ukrainians need from us, but it’s not easy," said Dvurechensky. Attempts to organize protests have also been hampered by the fact that Russians living in Turkey have few legal rights. No one wants to get deported for causing a disruption.
The government’s spy networks are formidable. When Saifulina arrived in Turkey, she found online groups that ostensibly helped other expats. She abandoned them after suspecting that they were operated by the Russian government. When I was in Belgrade last autumn, I also met two Russian women who said that Instagram accounts were being monitored for signs of dissent. As the war continues, repressive measures have only intensified. The Kremlin is currently exploring laws that will allow it to expropriate the homes of dissident expats and sentence them to death in absentia.
Last spring, there was a trusting atmosphere among Turkey’s Russian exiles, who got along well with local Ukrainians. This changed last autumn with the mass arrival of pro-war Russians who were simply fleeing conscription. The earlier conscientious objectors remain deeply distrustful of the second wave of emigres, but over time it has become harder to tell who is actually who. Loyalties are murky. Suspicion is everywhere. Worse yet, the new emigres seem to have worn out Turkey’s patience, leading to harsher visa restrictions. The conscientious objectors now worry that a noose is tightening around them and that they will be forced into a nomadic existence, unable to stay in any country for an extended period of time, because of a war instigated by a thuggish regime that disgusts them.
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Adam Zivo is a Canadian writer who relocated to Ukraine earlier this year to report on the Russia-Ukraine war. He is writing a book on how the war is experienced by average Ukrainians.