Meet the Russians who are fleeing — not the war, but their own government
3 years ago

Meet the Russians who are fleeing — not the war, but their own government

NPR  

Meet the Russians who are fleeing — not the war, but their own government Enlarge this image toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR Claire Harbage/NPR TBILISI, Georgia — Earlier this month, 20-year-old Alexey Voloshinov packed a bag and made a split decision to leave his home country of Russia, possibly forever. Enlarge this image toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR Claire Harbage/NPR Voloshinov is one of tens of thousands of Russians who have fled their own country since the war in Ukraine began one month ago. Enlarge this image toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR Claire Harbage/NPR So she left Russia — and all her family and friends — behind, and fled to Tbilisi just one week ago. Enlarge this image toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR Claire Harbage/NPR Leonid Kabanov, 30, IT specialist Leonid Kabanov left Russia with his girlfriend the day after the invasion began.

Georgia War Ukraine Russia Image Putin Russian Ukrainian Tbilisi Left Npr Sponsor Message Caption Claire Russians Claire Harbage Toggle Voloshinov  war  caption  russian  meet  russians  toggle  harbagenpr  left  fleeing  image  claire  russia

History of this topic

‘I was running out of money’: After quitting wartime Russia, some return
1 month, 3 weeks ago

‘I was running out of money’: After quitting wartime Russia, some return

Al Jazeera  

Russia’s war on Ukraine saw many flee due to the fear of persecution or being drafted, but some have returned, finding life abroad challenging. “For now, I can say that close to one million people since the beginning of the war have stayed abroad,” she said. Artur, another IT worker from St Petersburg, left immediately after Putin’s announcement of what …

How one Ukrainian soldier and his wife survived 1,000 days of war with Russia
4 months, 2 weeks ago

How one Ukrainian soldier and his wife survived 1,000 days of war with Russia

NPR  

How one Ukrainian soldier and his wife survived 1,000 days of war with Russia toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR KYIV and LYMAN, Ukraine — A thousand days into Russia's full-scale war on his country, Mykola Ivantsov fights on the eastern front line with a broken back that hasn't healed. "We've been asked if we're lovers or newlyweds," says Mykola, 52. "After …

A newspaper near Ukraine's border with Russia watches for freed POWs
10 months, 2 weeks ago

A newspaper near Ukraine's border with Russia watches for freed POWs

NPR  

A newspaper near Ukraine's border with Russia watches for freed POWs Enlarge this image toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR Claire Harbage/NPR KRASNOPILLYA, Ukraine — The only open checkpoint with Russia, just 6 miles away from this woodsy border village, is the entry home for Ukrainians freed from Russian captivity. Enlarge this image toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR Claire Harbage/NPR "It's what we're …

Russian soldiers who quit Putin’s war get no hero’s welcome abroad as asylum claims surge
11 months, 3 weeks ago

Russian soldiers who quit Putin’s war get no hero’s welcome abroad as asylum claims surge

Associated Press  

ASTANA, Kazakhstan — If the choice was death or a bullet to the leg, Yevgeny would take the bullet. “We don’t know what tomorrow will bring,” said his lawyer, Artur Alkhastov, who works with the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law in Astana. “In Kazakhstan, politics is higher than the law... Everything can change.” In July, …

The White House told Russians to flee here instead of fighting Ukraine. Then the U.S. tried to deport them
1 year, 7 months ago

The White House told Russians to flee here instead of fighting Ukraine. Then the U.S. tried to deport them

LA Times  

Numerous Russians attempting to escape conscription onto the Ukrainian battlefield have made perilous journeys to the United States, trusting in the Biden administration’s declaration that the U.S. would “welcome” those fleeing the war and their forced participation in it. Instead of winning asylum, however, some of these men have been detained and, in at least one case, deported back to …

Q&A: It's been 12 months since Russia invaded Ukraine. Our experts answered your questions about the war
2 years, 1 month ago

Q&A: It's been 12 months since Russia invaded Ukraine. Our experts answered your questions about the war

ABC  

By Europe correspondent Isabella Higgins The war turned the lives of ordinary Ukrainians upside down. "Since February 24, 2022, I have been homeless … this war is very personal to me," said Sergei, a soldier on the frontlines in the Donbas region, who didn't want us to publish his last name. He doesn't know when or if he'll ever return …

Moscow denies 700,000 have fled since Putin’s call-up order – but does not have ‘exact figure’
2 years, 5 months ago

Moscow denies 700,000 have fled since Putin’s call-up order – but does not have ‘exact figure’

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Moscow has denied reports that …

The Russians fleeing Putin’s military draft
2 years, 5 months ago

The Russians fleeing Putin’s military draft

Al Jazeera  

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to call up 300,000 military reservists to join the war in Ukraine has created chaos in the country. Halla Mohieddeen: That’s Albert, a Russian anti-war activist talking about the choice he faced earlier this month, when President Vladimir Putin announced he’d be drafting Russians to join the war effort against Ukraine. Halla Mohieddeen: Albert said …

On the edge of Russia's illegal annexation, Ukrainians grapple with uncertainty
2 years, 6 months ago

On the edge of Russia's illegal annexation, Ukrainians grapple with uncertainty

NPR  

On the edge of Russia's illegal annexation, Ukrainians grapple with uncertainty toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR TAVRIISKE, Ukraine — Andrii Boiarskyi stands outside a mini-mart on the side of the main road out of town. Enlarge this image toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR Claire Harbage/NPR He thinks with the so-called annexation — which he calls fake — life there is about to …

Moscow tries to draft fleeing Russian men at the borders
2 years, 6 months ago

Moscow tries to draft fleeing Russian men at the borders

Associated Press  

LARSI, Georgia — Long lines of Russians trying to escape being called up to fight in Ukraine continued to clog highways out of the country on Wednesday, and Moscow reportedly set up draft offices at borders to intercept some of them. North Ossetia restricted many passenger cars from entering its territory, and set up a draft office at the Verkhy …

Putin’s Central Asian allies embrace Russians fleeing draft
2 years, 6 months ago

Putin’s Central Asian allies embrace Russians fleeing draft

Al Jazeera  

Moscow’s traditional allies in Central Asia are quietly making moves that are likely to upset the Russian leader. On Monday, Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry said it would not recognise the “referendums” in occupied Ukrainian regions that paved the way for their annexation by Moscow. “I can’t handle the influx,” said Timur Karpov, who owns an art gallery in the Uzbek capital, …

Russian men join exodus, fearing call-up to fight in Ukraine
2 years, 6 months ago

Russian men join exodus, fearing call-up to fight in Ukraine

Associated Press  

ISTANBUL — Military-aged men fled Russia in droves Friday, filling planes and causing traffic jams at border crossings to avoid being rounded up to fight in Ukraine following the Kremlin’s partial military mobilization. I’m not going to kill people,” said the man, who identified himself only as Yevgeny to avoid potential retribution against his family left behind in Russia. White …

‘Now I am a beggar': Fleeing the Russian advance in Ukraine
2 years, 10 months ago

‘Now I am a beggar': Fleeing the Russian advance in Ukraine

Associated Press  

POKROVSK, Ukraine — As Russian forces press their offensive to take the eastern Ukrainian cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, civilians who have managed to flee say intensified shelling over the past week left them unable to even venture out from basement bomb shelters. “We were sitting there, then the traffic police came and they said: ‘You should evacuate as fast …

Hundreds of thousands flee Russia and Putin’s ‘two wars’
2 years, 11 months ago

Hundreds of thousands flee Russia and Putin’s ‘two wars’

Al Jazeera  

At least 200,000 Russians have abandoned their homes and jobs for fear of being persecuted as ‘scum and national traitors’. Vinnytsia, Ukraine – Nana Grinstein fled Russia because the Kremlin’s new laws punishing criticism of its so-called “special operation in Ukraine” may land her in jail. Grinstein, a playwright, her husband Viktor, a video editor, and their 14-year-old daughter, Tonya, …

Fleeing Putin’s Russia: Exiles search for new identity, but find new problems
3 years ago

Fleeing Putin’s Russia: Exiles search for new identity, but find new problems

LA Times  

People gather for a rally in support of Ukraine in front of parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia. “People that I know in Moscow started to feel panicked, like really panicked,” Gessen, who was born in Russia, said in an interview last month on the public radio show “Fresh Air.” Gessen reported “a distinct sense that the borders were likely to close, …

Russia-Ukraine War: More Than 4 Million Ukrainian Refugees Flee War, Says UN
3 years ago

Russia-Ukraine War: More Than 4 Million Ukrainian Refugees Flee War, Says UN

News 18  

Russia-Ukraine: More than four million Ukrainians have now fled the country to escape Russia’s war, United Nations figures showed Wednesday. Russia pledged to scale down fighting around Kyiv and a second major city following peace talks on Tuesday that Ukraine’s leader said showed “positive” signs, but Western allies made clear their doubts over Moscow’s intentions. Kyiv’s negotiator David Arakhamia said …

‘We are refugees’: Russians flee rising authoritarianism
3 years ago

‘We are refugees’: Russians flee rising authoritarianism

Al Jazeera  

Public figures and critical Russians flock to the Baltic states, Georgia, Armenia and Turkey amid the war on Ukraine. “Many Russians have arrived in Georgia in recent days,” journalist Boris Grozovski wrote on his Facebook page. If I wrote what I write now while in Russia, I would inevitably go to prison for 15-20 years.” Russian media outlets are under …

Op-Ed: Putin’s diaspora will echo 1939’s, but going in the opposite direction
3 years ago

Op-Ed: Putin’s diaspora will echo 1939’s, but going in the opposite direction

LA Times  

A scene at the Medyka border crossing between Ukraine and Poland on Feb. 28. “I prayed, if I can live to May, I’ll be able to go outside with my child,” my grandmother recalled in an oral history project for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. After the war, rather than going back to Zamosc, where Poles in …

‘Scared to stay’: Why some rushed to leave Russia after war
3 years ago

‘Scared to stay’: Why some rushed to leave Russia after war

Al Jazeera  

Martial law rumours, coupled with frustration over country’s economic situation and growing isolation, led some to head abroad after invasion of Ukraine. “Immediately all my friends and relatives started to push me into wisely buying new tickets on this very date,” he told Al Jazeera by phone from Hungary’s capital. “I didn’t even bother to pack, I just left three …

Endless saga of displacement for refugees in Ukraine who fled other wars
3 years ago

Endless saga of displacement for refugees in Ukraine who fled other wars

Firstpost  

As Russia attacked Ukraine on 24 February, refugees from war-ravaged Yemen, Afghanistan and Syria found themselves looking for a safe haven again Nuremberg: When Russia launched its war on Ukraine, a Syrian student in the city of Kharkiv joined the exodus of people fleeing the onslaught. When Russia invaded last week, pummeling Ukrainian cities with airstrikes and shelling — including …

Fearing martial law or conscription, some Russians try to flee abroad
3 years ago

Fearing martial law or conscription, some Russians try to flee abroad

ABC  

As Russian troops slowly advanced on Ukraine's capital Kyiv, some people back in Moscow have attempted to flee to destinations abroad that have not banned flights from Russia, stomaching soaring prices in the rush to escape. Key points: Moscow denies rumours it may impose martial law Some men of fighting age fear being drafted into army Russians are no longer …

Ukrainians are fleeing to Poland, but some are returning home for their families
3 years, 1 month ago

Ukrainians are fleeing to Poland, but some are returning home for their families

NPR  

Ukrainians are fleeing to Poland, but some are returning home for their families Enlarge this image toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR Claire Harbage/NPR Thousands of Ukranians and residents of Ukraine are fleeing the country and entering Poland following Russia's invasion last week. Poland has set up several refugee shelters along the border. But some are returning to Ukraine to get to …

Russia-Ukraine war news updates: Afghan man fled to Ukraine to escape war only to run again to Poland
3 years, 1 month ago

Russia-Ukraine war news updates: Afghan man fled to Ukraine to escape war only to run again to Poland

India Today  

After leaving Afghanistan a year ago, Ajmal Rahmani believed he had found a haven of peace in Ukraine. READ: Ukraine forms 'international brigade' to fight Russia, Zelenskyy urges foreigners to sign up His seven-year-old daughter Marwa clutched a beige-coloured soft toy dog as Rahmani spoke. Before that "I had a good life in Afghanistan, I had a private house, I …

The Refugees: Civilians pour over border into Russia to escape conflict
16 years, 7 months ago

The Refugees: Civilians pour over border into Russia to escape conflict

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Refugees continued to pour into …

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