We Spoke to a Russian Man Who Risked Everything to Flee His Home Country Forever—Running Not From Bombs, But From His Government

When I woke up on February 24th in St. Petersburg, Russia and saw the news that Russia had invaded Ukraine, I started crying—even though I knew this day was coming.

I had started preparing for it a year ago when opposition leader Alexander Navalny was poisoned by Putin and then imprisoned. And, honestly, I started thinking about it back in 2007 when Putin gave his famous speech at the Munich Security Conference about American unilateralism and NATO expansion as a provocation to Russia.

All the signs were there. I knew dark times were coming. Russia was headed back to totalitarianism.

The Soviet Union collapsed when I was 18, right when I finished school. Putin became president when I was 27. Now, I’m 48. Because I’m Jewish, I was able to move to Israel in 2019 with my wife for a year in order to get Israeli citizenship for the both of us. It was important to me to have the freedom to travel and the possibility to leave Russia. An Israeli passport opens more doors than a Russian one—especially now.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is, of course, the last in a series of brutal invasions and military interventions: Georgia in 2008; Crimea in 2014; Syria in 2016. Putin’s crackdown on dissent and free and fair elections began shortly after he became president in 2000. Political opponents were silenced or killed, independent newspapers and television channels were shut down, laws restricting public protest were put in place beginning in 2004 and have grown increasingly strict. On March 4th, the newest law—punishable by 15 years in prison—makes it a crime to “discredit the Russian armed forces,” disseminate “fake” photos of what’s happening in Ukraine, and to even use the word “War” (война) instead of what the Kremlin is calling the invasion: a “special operation” (спецоперация).

That’s when I knew we had to leave. I talk too much. I’m critical of the government. And I don’t want to go to jail for the next 15 years. Before, if you took part in a protest, you could only be jailed for a month. Not anymore.

My wife also agreed it was time to go. I sold my motorcycle. I sold my car for 25 percent less than it was worth, but we needed cash. We could no longer use credit cards. The value of the ruble was falling. We left the apartment we own. We left our families behind. We took the train from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, Finland on March 7th with our dog and some suitcases. The train was filled with Russians leaving the country. We were all in shock.

We decided to go to Helsinki, because it’s close to St. Petersburg and it’s easy to get there. Nearly all international flights have stopped flying from Russian airports. We also have friends there that invited us to stay at their apartment. We are watching to see what happens in Russia from here. Any minute, Putin could close the borders and declare martial law. Russia could become like North Korea. The level of danger is growing so fast.

To be safe, we both wiped our phones before we left the country—deleted every photo, every social media app. At the Finnish border, the Russian border patrol could have demanded to see our phones to see if we had said anything against the invasion or the government. Luckily, they didn’t check.

“I don’t ever want to go back to Russia”

The current situation is not an inconvenience or even a problem. It is a catastrophe. Things are worse than ever before—even worse than the 90s. Because, in the 90s, we looked to the future and we saw a way out. Now, there’s no hope for the future, no business, no money, no possibilities. Nothing. Until Putin dies, nothing will change. I think it will take no less than 10 years to repair this damage to the country. I can’t wait 10 years.

I have a friend in Moscow. She owns a successful antique shop that sells old Soviet stuff. She’s really active in the opposition movement. She was open about it. She went to meetings and demonstrations. And, shortly after the new laws were passed on March 4th, the FSB (formerly the KGB) called her at her shop to say, “We see that you are spreading anti-government information and we would like to have a conversation with you tomorrow.” She immediately bought a ticket to Turkey, one of the few international destinations that Russians can still fly to, and left that day. The following day, the FSB came to her shop; thankfully, she was already gone.

Everyone who understands what is happening is leaving. I’d guess that out of the 140 million people who live in Russia, maybe 40 million understand what’s happening, yet not everyone has the option to leave. At least 100 million are zombies who believe what they are told. They scare me more than Putin.

“I predict that Ukraine will win this war”

They have already won. Ukraine is now the most popular country in the world. It’s a country of heroes fighting for democracy. Putin has already lost. It’s just a question of time.

I don’t feel like I have a country anymore. I feel deep shame that we let this happen in Russia. The current situation is the responsibility of all people who live in Russia. Because we could see this happening, if we chose to look. The people who didn’t see it were just closing their eyes. The Russians who are leaving now will try to distance themselves as much as they can from their country.

But in my view, the U.S. and Europe are also to blame. They were afraid of standing up to Putin. And they allowed corrupt oligarchs to buy up all of London and New York with stolen money. Where they got their money was never a secret, and all the foreign heads of state met with Putin like he was a legit leader. They knew he was a criminal, yet they shook his hand. Sanctions could have been used much earlier to punish Putin and his circle, especially after Crimea. The West helped create this monster. Now we are all paying the price.

Editor’s Note: On Thursday, March 17, Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that Russians who were resigning from posts and leaving the country were “traitors.” He also suggested that this was a natural and necessary “self-cleansing” of the population.