First modification:
According to estimates, close to a million Russians have left their country since the start of the war, in an exodus that increased after Vladimir Putin’s call-up on September 21. Many have fled to Turkey, where they are trying to rebuild their lives. From learning the local language to opening new businesses, Russians who have gone into exile are looking to the future.
Seriozha did not think for a second when he saw, on television, that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, announced the partial mobilization in his country and the call-up of men between 18 and 60 years old.
Before the borders could be closed, this young man bought the first ticket he could and, in a few days, left his native Russia. Like him, hundreds of thousands of Russians have done the same in recent weeks, since September 21, when Putin announced that forced recruitment was beginning.
“I do not plan in any way to return to Russia in the near future until there is a change. So being away I don’t care too much if I get the call-up. In fact, if it happens, it might help me get a visa to stay somewhere else safely,” explains Seriozha, who arrived in Istanbul two weeks ago, where she plans to stay.
The streets of the center of the great Turkish metropolis have now filled with Russians, some of whom are opening cafes, bookstores and language centers for the thousands who have arrived and are still arriving.
“I have eight friends who received the call-up. But like me, they left, so it’s not a big deal. But I have other friends who were called and went to the recruiting center. There they were forced to sign the documents. Now they cannot leave Russia, ”explains Igor, another young Russian, who a few days ago received a message on his phone asking him, too, to go to the recruitment office.
“I asked my mother if a written letter had arrived at home requesting my presence and nothing has arrived. I don’t know if it’s someone trying to scam me or if the message is true, but the truth is that I know 20 people from my town who have been called up. It’s terrifying,” says Igor, who fled Russia on September 28. He, unlike Seriozha, did it by bicycle, across the Finnish border. From there he traveled to Istanbul.
Favorable and detractors
Estimates suggest that, since the start of the war in Ukraine —in February of this year— around a million Russians have left their country; about half of them would have left after forced recruitment. “Surely there are many more,” says Igor. “When the Army makes you sign the recruitment papers, they take away your passport. Many people are escaping illegally, sneaking across the border,” says this young man.
“Even people who used to support what state propaganda told them, now they no longer want to support what is happening with their actions or their own lives,” explains Eva Rapoport, a Russian activist living in Istanbul and responsible in this city for the NGO ‘The Ark ‘, which tries to help Russians fleeing their country—. No one seriously wants to go (to Ukraine) and fight. The chances of surviving and coming back alive or without trauma or serious injury are very low.”
“There are a lot of people who contact us online for help getting out and have the letter ‘Z’ on their profiles — the symbol for the Russian ‘special operation’. And I think they deserve some kind of help and understanding because repeating official propaganda cannot be an offense punishable by death and go to war to die”, says Rapoport.
