Hoards of Russian draft dodgers flee to Thailand
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Hoards of Russian draft dodgers flee to Thailand
There are so many Russians in Jomtien now some locals have taken to calling the place Jomtien-ski. I have no idea how many are here in the greater Pattaya area but it's a lot. I talk to them all the time and I find this group really happy to be here and not in Russia right now. According to this article there are over 200k in Phuket alone. Article by the Sun.
FIGHT? NO PHUKET Thousands of Russians flee for Thailand to avoid Ukraine war call-up as they ‘take over’ top resorts
Published: 21:54, 17 Mar 2023Updated: 22:36, 17 Mar 2023
By: Nick Parker
TENS of thousands of Russians have fled to Thailand to escape a Ukraine war call-up.
Top tourist resorts, such as Phuket, have been swamped with draft dodgers.
Many of the Russians have been described as men of fighting age
Some have taken over neighborhoods and have no intention of returning home.
Figures show at least 233,000 Russians have arrived on the isle of Phuket alone since November.
The flood has led to a home price boom as wealthy middle- class arrivals rent or buy to stay indefinitely on residential visas.
In Pattaya, would-be conscript Nikolai, 25, said he had travelled between Thailand, Cambodia and Laos to escape a call-up.
He said: “This is not my war. I have never voted for Vladimir Putin.
"I can’t stop the war by being in Russia, but I will do all I can and all my income allows me to never join his troops, and never fight against Ukraine.”
An insurance broker from Vladivostok — who did not want to be identified — said: “The huge wave of young men arriving here for an indefinite period is impossible to miss.”
British tourists recently in Thailand noticed the changes.
Michael Shackleton, 39, of Didsbury, Manchester, said: “In Pattaya you can’t move for Russian men of fighting age.” https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/21754692/ ... r-ukraine/
FIGHT? NO PHUKET Thousands of Russians flee for Thailand to avoid Ukraine war call-up as they ‘take over’ top resorts
Published: 21:54, 17 Mar 2023Updated: 22:36, 17 Mar 2023
By: Nick Parker
TENS of thousands of Russians have fled to Thailand to escape a Ukraine war call-up.
Top tourist resorts, such as Phuket, have been swamped with draft dodgers.
Many of the Russians have been described as men of fighting age
Some have taken over neighborhoods and have no intention of returning home.
Figures show at least 233,000 Russians have arrived on the isle of Phuket alone since November.
The flood has led to a home price boom as wealthy middle- class arrivals rent or buy to stay indefinitely on residential visas.
In Pattaya, would-be conscript Nikolai, 25, said he had travelled between Thailand, Cambodia and Laos to escape a call-up.
He said: “This is not my war. I have never voted for Vladimir Putin.
"I can’t stop the war by being in Russia, but I will do all I can and all my income allows me to never join his troops, and never fight against Ukraine.”
An insurance broker from Vladivostok — who did not want to be identified — said: “The huge wave of young men arriving here for an indefinite period is impossible to miss.”
British tourists recently in Thailand noticed the changes.
Michael Shackleton, 39, of Didsbury, Manchester, said: “In Pattaya you can’t move for Russian men of fighting age.” https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/21754692/ ... r-ukraine/
Freedom is not a state. It is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau.. Freedom is a continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.-John Lewis
What is the world fighting for, we are all overwhelmed with genetically modified proteins, there is no need for wars anymore. Above all, we need beekeepers.
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And soon they have move away since Thailand and Russia are making extradition treaty.
MSN: https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/world/th ... r-AA18EDQMThailand.- Government approves extradition treaty with Russia
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Pardon my engrish, thanks you.
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Surely there are global conventions in place to stop even Thailand from removing people back to a genuine warzone?
There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see. ~ Leonardo da Vinci
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From Al Jezerra: Russians make Thailand a refuge as Ukraine war enters second year
Russians are buying up property in Southeast Asian country to avoid conscription and the economic ravages of the war.
Thailand
More than 233,000 Russians arrived in Phuket between November 2022 and January 2023 [File: Jorge Silva/Reuters]
By Vijitra Duangdee
Published On 22 Feb 2023
22 Feb 2023
Bangkok/Pattaya, Thailand – Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, a growing number of Russians have looked to Thailand as their ticket to a new life.
Tens of thousands of Russians hoping to avoid the threat of conscription and the economic ravages of the war have travelled to the kingdom in the year since the invasion, many of them seeking a new home
In Phuket, a popular resort island, Russians are buying off-plan condos with half a million dollars or more to facilitate their relocation or provide a landing pad for a future time when they may feel forced to leave their homeland.
Between November 1, 2022, and January 21, 2023, more than 233,000 Russians arrived in Phuket, according to data from Phuket International Airport, making them the biggest group of visitors by far.
Phuket has long been a favourite escape from the harsh Russian winter but property sales have surged since President Vladimir Putin in September ordered Moscow’s first wartime mobilisation since World War Two, suggesting many arrivals are intent on staying well beyond the length of a typical holiday.
“My clients are mostly young, 30-35… they’re wealthy, high-budget clients,” Sofia Malygaevareal, a real estate agent in Phuket who originally hails from Russia, told Al Jazeera.
“A lot of people have decided to move to Phuket from three to six months… to one year.”
To stay on the idyllic island, Russian arrivals need homes, schools, jobs and visas – which takes time in Thailand, where obtaining long-term residency rights can be difficult to achieve.
For many of the newcomers determined to swap a home on a war footing for a life in the Thai sunshine, money is not a problem. Realtors in Russian-dominated areas of the island say the influx of wealthy visitors, fuelled by the growing realisation the war has no end in sight as it enters its second year, has driven prices up to record levels.
Luxury condos that until recently were available to rent for about $1,000 a month can now go for three times that. Meanwhile, extravagant villas on the market for $6,000 or more are booked out up to a year in advance.
The buyers’ market is similarly red hot. In 2022, Russians bought nearly 40 percent of all condominiums sold to foreigners in Phuket, according to the Thai Real Estate Information Center (REIC). Russians’ purchases amounted to $25m in sales – several times the amount spent by Chinese nationals, the next largest group of buys, according to the REIC.
Some buyers have spent upwards of $500,000 on luxury off-plan homes by the sea, according to local real estate agents.
“The situation has changed at home,” Malygaevareal said, referring to the tough economic conditions in Russia. “People who have money come abroad and are ready to pay money for international school, which costs less than in Moscow.”
A Russian travel agent in Phuket, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said some Russians have arrived on one-way tickets and tourist visas. “[They] just do not go home… they are here to get away from conscription.”
Woman walks past bar with blue, red and yellow fairy lights and a sign that says 'Russo Touristo Bar'. The street is quiet and it looks like dusk. Behind her, on the other side of the road is a large lit up sign saying 'Steakhouse'
Russians are among the biggest groups of visitors to popular Thai resort areas such as Pattaya [Vijitra Duangdee]
The mass influx of Russians is also reflected in other popular tourist areas such as Koh Samui, Thailand’s second-biggest island, and the eastern seaboard resort of Pattaya, where there has been a sizeable Russian community concentrated in the beach town of Jomtien for years.
“More Russians have moved to Pattaya since October. They’re mostly young couples who fear for their safety,” Mikhail Ilyin, the head priest of the All Saints Russian Orthodox Church in Pattaya, told Al Jazeera.
But the impact of Putin’s invasion works both ways.
Dar, a Thai masseuse in her 40s, said she left her job at a high-end spa in Moscow as the rouble collapsed and her salary – which was generous by Thai standards – plummeted in value. Dar has found new work in Jomtien, where her rare language skills win over repeat Russian clients.
“The women tell me they are desperate to get their husbands, boyfriends or children to come over here to stay,” she said, asking to be referred to by only her first name. “So they come over first and find houses and try to make visas for their men.”
Visas, though, are not as easy to obtain as they used to be after a major scandal was uncovered in November involving Thai immigration police helping the Chinese mafia bring thousands of people into Thailand through fake work and volunteer schemes.
That means Russians who can afford it are having to apply for expensive property ownership visas known as the “Elite Card”, which allows a long-term stay for a family for approximately $25,000.
“It’s not as easy as they think to do long-term living here,” said IIyin, the priest. “Some are thinking of returning as they run out of options.”
The flow of Russians and Russian money into Thailand is also generating resentment in some quarters.
On Phuket, which was hit especially hard by the collapse of global tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some local tourism businesses have expressed anger about Russians allegedly taking local jobs.
Tourism operators have complained about Russian taxi drivers shuttling their compatriots around the island and leading tour groups around Phuket’s historic Old Town, often without the required permits or visas.
Earlier this month, Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, president of the Phuket Tourist Association, complained about the prospect of Russians cutting into locals’ livelihoods.
“If it’s true they’re taking our jobs in our own home, we can’t allow this to happen,” Ruktaengam wrote on his Facebook page.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
© 2023 Al Jazeera Media Network
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/ ... econd-year
Article from the Bangkok Post Headlined " Russiian's put down roots in Thailand" from last week https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/sp ... in-kingdom
Russians are buying up property in Southeast Asian country to avoid conscription and the economic ravages of the war.
Thailand
More than 233,000 Russians arrived in Phuket between November 2022 and January 2023 [File: Jorge Silva/Reuters]
By Vijitra Duangdee
Published On 22 Feb 2023
22 Feb 2023
Bangkok/Pattaya, Thailand – Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, a growing number of Russians have looked to Thailand as their ticket to a new life.
Tens of thousands of Russians hoping to avoid the threat of conscription and the economic ravages of the war have travelled to the kingdom in the year since the invasion, many of them seeking a new home
In Phuket, a popular resort island, Russians are buying off-plan condos with half a million dollars or more to facilitate their relocation or provide a landing pad for a future time when they may feel forced to leave their homeland.
Between November 1, 2022, and January 21, 2023, more than 233,000 Russians arrived in Phuket, according to data from Phuket International Airport, making them the biggest group of visitors by far.
Phuket has long been a favourite escape from the harsh Russian winter but property sales have surged since President Vladimir Putin in September ordered Moscow’s first wartime mobilisation since World War Two, suggesting many arrivals are intent on staying well beyond the length of a typical holiday.
“My clients are mostly young, 30-35… they’re wealthy, high-budget clients,” Sofia Malygaevareal, a real estate agent in Phuket who originally hails from Russia, told Al Jazeera.
“A lot of people have decided to move to Phuket from three to six months… to one year.”
To stay on the idyllic island, Russian arrivals need homes, schools, jobs and visas – which takes time in Thailand, where obtaining long-term residency rights can be difficult to achieve.
For many of the newcomers determined to swap a home on a war footing for a life in the Thai sunshine, money is not a problem. Realtors in Russian-dominated areas of the island say the influx of wealthy visitors, fuelled by the growing realisation the war has no end in sight as it enters its second year, has driven prices up to record levels.
Luxury condos that until recently were available to rent for about $1,000 a month can now go for three times that. Meanwhile, extravagant villas on the market for $6,000 or more are booked out up to a year in advance.
The buyers’ market is similarly red hot. In 2022, Russians bought nearly 40 percent of all condominiums sold to foreigners in Phuket, according to the Thai Real Estate Information Center (REIC). Russians’ purchases amounted to $25m in sales – several times the amount spent by Chinese nationals, the next largest group of buys, according to the REIC.
Some buyers have spent upwards of $500,000 on luxury off-plan homes by the sea, according to local real estate agents.
“The situation has changed at home,” Malygaevareal said, referring to the tough economic conditions in Russia. “People who have money come abroad and are ready to pay money for international school, which costs less than in Moscow.”
A Russian travel agent in Phuket, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said some Russians have arrived on one-way tickets and tourist visas. “[They] just do not go home… they are here to get away from conscription.”
Woman walks past bar with blue, red and yellow fairy lights and a sign that says 'Russo Touristo Bar'. The street is quiet and it looks like dusk. Behind her, on the other side of the road is a large lit up sign saying 'Steakhouse'
Russians are among the biggest groups of visitors to popular Thai resort areas such as Pattaya [Vijitra Duangdee]
The mass influx of Russians is also reflected in other popular tourist areas such as Koh Samui, Thailand’s second-biggest island, and the eastern seaboard resort of Pattaya, where there has been a sizeable Russian community concentrated in the beach town of Jomtien for years.
“More Russians have moved to Pattaya since October. They’re mostly young couples who fear for their safety,” Mikhail Ilyin, the head priest of the All Saints Russian Orthodox Church in Pattaya, told Al Jazeera.
But the impact of Putin’s invasion works both ways.
Dar, a Thai masseuse in her 40s, said she left her job at a high-end spa in Moscow as the rouble collapsed and her salary – which was generous by Thai standards – plummeted in value. Dar has found new work in Jomtien, where her rare language skills win over repeat Russian clients.
“The women tell me they are desperate to get their husbands, boyfriends or children to come over here to stay,” she said, asking to be referred to by only her first name. “So they come over first and find houses and try to make visas for their men.”
Visas, though, are not as easy to obtain as they used to be after a major scandal was uncovered in November involving Thai immigration police helping the Chinese mafia bring thousands of people into Thailand through fake work and volunteer schemes.
That means Russians who can afford it are having to apply for expensive property ownership visas known as the “Elite Card”, which allows a long-term stay for a family for approximately $25,000.
“It’s not as easy as they think to do long-term living here,” said IIyin, the priest. “Some are thinking of returning as they run out of options.”
The flow of Russians and Russian money into Thailand is also generating resentment in some quarters.
On Phuket, which was hit especially hard by the collapse of global tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some local tourism businesses have expressed anger about Russians allegedly taking local jobs.
Tourism operators have complained about Russian taxi drivers shuttling their compatriots around the island and leading tour groups around Phuket’s historic Old Town, often without the required permits or visas.
Earlier this month, Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, president of the Phuket Tourist Association, complained about the prospect of Russians cutting into locals’ livelihoods.
“If it’s true they’re taking our jobs in our own home, we can’t allow this to happen,” Ruktaengam wrote on his Facebook page.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
© 2023 Al Jazeera Media Network
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/ ... econd-year
Article from the Bangkok Post Headlined " Russiian's put down roots in Thailand" from last week https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/sp ... in-kingdom
Freedom is not a state. It is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau.. Freedom is a continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.-John Lewis
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Jomtien's "Russian Market' from earlier this year.
Freedom is not a state. It is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau.. Freedom is a continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.-John Lewis
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Hasn’t stopped them before if there were.Phnom Penh Trader wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 9:30 pmSurely there are global conventions in place to stop even Thailand from removing people back to a genuine warzone?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangrek ... e#Timeline
In June 1979 , the Royal Thai Army forced some 43,000 to 45,000 Cambodian refugees who had crossed into Thailand back into Cambodia.
After some of the Khmer refugees tried to retreat as they feared both returning under the Khmer Rouge and walking over landmines, the Thai soldiers opened fire on them.
It is estimated that thousands of Khmer refugees died in what has been referred to as the "Dangrek genocide."
While those who retreated were shut down by Thai soldiers, most died from dehydration, diarrhoea, and mines which had been placed in the area both by the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese invading army.
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I stopped watching at the point at which he seemingly asserted that the Thai vendor selling grilled fish, meat and prawns was evidence of a Russian cultural takeover, because Russians love fish.
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This is the new owner of the old Thai Visa now Asean Now website an utter halfwit!nerdlinger wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 2:55 pmI stopped watching at the point at which he seemingly asserted that the Thai vendor selling grilled fish, meat and prawns was evidence of a Russian cultural takeover, because Russians love fish.
There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see. ~ Leonardo da Vinci
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From the Washington Post Feb,13 2023: YEREVAN, Armenia — As Russian troops stormed into Ukraine last February, sending millions of Ukrainians fleeing for their lives, thousands of Russians also raced to pack their bags and leave home, fearing the Kremlin would shut the borders and impose martial law.
Some had long opposed rising authoritarianism, and the invasion was a last straw. Others were driven by economic interest, to preserve livelihoods or escape the bite of sanctions. Then, last autumn, a military mobilization spurred hundreds of thousands of men to run.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war has set off a historic exodus of his own people. Initial data shows that at least 500,000, and perhaps nearly 1 million, have left in the year since the invasion began — a tidal wave on scale with emigration following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.
Now, as then, the departures stand to redefine the country for generations. And the flood may still be in its early stages. The war seems nowhere near finished. Any new conscription effort by the Kremlin will spark new departures, as will worsening economic conditions, which are expected as the conflict drags on.
The huge outflow has swelled existing Russian expatriate communities across the world, and created new ones.
Some fled nearby to countries like Armenia and Kazakhstan, across borders open to Russians. Some with visas escaped to Finland, the Baltic states or elsewhere in Europe. Others ventured farther, to the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Thailand, Argentina. Two men from Russia’s Far East even sailed a small boat to Alaska.
Russian citizens arriving through a border crossing in Dariali, Georgia, on Sept. 30, after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military mobilization. (Tako Robakidze/Bloomberg News)
The financial cost, while vast, is impossible to calculate. In late December, Russia’s Communications Ministry reported that 10 percent of the country’s IT workers had left in 2022 and not returned. Russia’s parliament is now debating a package of incentives to bring them back.
But there has also been talk in parliament of punishing Russians who left by stripping them of their assets at home. Putin has referred to these people as “scum” and said their exit would “cleanse” the country — even though some who left did not oppose him, or the war.
Russia ousts director of elite museum as Kremlin demands patriotic art
With the government severely restricting dissent, and implementing punishment for criticism of the war, those remaining in the depleted political opposition also faced a choice this year: prison or exile. Most chose exile. Activists and journalists are now clustered in cities such as Berlin and the capitals of Lithuania, Latvia and Georgia.
“This exodus is a terrible blow for Russia,” said Tamara Eidelman, a Russian historian who moved to Portugal after the invasion. “The layer that could have changed something in the country has now been washed away.”
While Ukrainian refugees were embraced in the West, many countries shunned the Russians, uncertain whether they were friends or foes, and whether, on some level, the entire country was culpable. Some nations have blocked arrivals by imposing entry restrictions or denying new visas, at times spreading panic among Russians already abroad, especially students.
Videos show long lines of people waiting at Russia's Mashtakovo border crossing with Kazakhstan on Sept. 22 and Sept. 25, after Russia's military mobilization. (Video: @aidos0070)
Meanwhile, the influx of Russians into countries such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, which have long sent immigrants to Russia, set off political tremors, straining ties between Moscow and the other former Soviet states. Real estate prices in those countries have shot up, causing tensions with local populations.
Nearly a year after the start of the invasion — and the new outflow of Russians — Washington Post journalists traveled to Yerevan and to Dubai for a close look at how the emigres are faring, and to ask if they ever plan to return. Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, a former Soviet republic, is a destination for Russians with lower financial mobility — an Orthodox Christian country where Russian is the second language. By contrast, pricey Dubai, in the Persian Gulf, is predominantly Muslim and Arabic-speaking, and attracts wealthier Russians seeking either glitz or business opportunity.
Yerevan
For many Russians choosing to flee, Armenia was a rare easy option. It is one of five ex-Soviet countries that allow Russians to enter with just a national ID — making it a popular destination for former soldiers, political activists and others needing a quick escape.
Given the shared religion and use of language, Russians typically do not face animosity or social stigma in Armenia. Obtaining residency permits is also straightforward, and living costs are lower than in the European Union.
Yerevan has attracted thousands of IT workers, young creatives and working-class people, including families with children, from across Russia. They have established new schools, bars, cafes and robust support networks.
In the courtyard of the “Free School” for Russian children, established in April, Maxim, a construction company manager, was waiting for his 8-year-old son, Timofey. The school started with 40 students in an apartment. Now, there are nearly 200 in a multistory building in the city center.
Maxim, whom The Post is identifying by only his first name for security reasons, flew to Yerevan from Volgograd to avoid the mobilization in September. “We left for the same reason everyone did: There was suddenly a real danger in the country for me and, above all, my family,” he said.
The family has adapted seamlessly to Yerevan. Everyone around them speaks Russian. Maxim works remotely on projects in Russia. Timofey likes his school and is learning Armenian. Maxim said he is sure the family will not return to Russia.
“Perhaps we will move on somewhere else, maybe even to Europe if things start to normalize,” he said.
At a shelter on the outskirts of Yerevan, Andrei, 25, a former military officer from Russia’s Rostov region, said he was also adjusting to a new life after similarly fleeing conscription. “I did not want to be a murderer in this criminal war,” said Andrei, who is being identified by his first name for safety reasons.
Andrei works as a delivery driver and shares a modest room with two other men in a shelter set up by Kovcheg, a support organization for Russian emigrants. “Before the war, I never followed politics, but after the invasion, I started reading about everything,” Andrei said. “I feel so ashamed about what Russia has done.”
Meanwhile, at a co-working space downtown, Russian activist groups organize debates, political meetings and therapy sessions. Messages of support for Ukraine hang on the walls, along with the white-and-blue flag adopted by Russia’s opposition. At one meeting in late January, dozens of Russians were hunched over tables, writing letters to political prisoners in Russia.
“The more letters, the better,” said Ivan Lyubimov, 37, an activist from Yekaterinburg. “It’s important that they don’t feel they are alone.” He held up a cartoon of a smiling panda. To circumvent prison censorship, they must avoid writing anything political, but drawings are certain to be delivered.
Tanya Raspopova, 26, arrived in Yerevan last March, with her husband but without a plan, overwhelmed and frightened.
Then she heard that another emigre was seeking partners to set up a bar, a space where Russian expats could come together, and she wanted to help. Tuf, named after the pink volcanic rock common throughout Yerevan, opened its doors within a month.
They started with a neon-lit bar and kitchen on the ground floor, which soon expanded into a small courtyard. Then they opened up a second floor, then a third. Upstairs there is now a recording studio, a clothing boutique and a tattoo parlor. On a Wednesday night in January, the place was packed with young Russians and Armenians singing karaoke, drinking cocktails and playing ping-pong. “We have since created such a big community, a big family,” Raspopova said. “Tuf is our new home.”
Dubai
Russians are everywhere in Dubai: clutching Dior totes perched atop Louis Vuitton suitcases in the airport, walking around malls in tracksuits, and filming TikToks and Reels near the Burj Khalifa.
Russia’s rich and powerful have long traveled to Dubai, but it was just one of many hot spots. That changed when the war cut Russians off from the West.
Thousands have chosen the UAE, which did not join Western sanctions and still has direct flights to Moscow, as their new home. Russians enjoy visa-free travel for 90 days, and it is relatively easy to get a national ID, through business or investment, for a longer stay
The high cost of living means there are no activists or journalists. Dubai is a haven, and the go-to playground, for Russian tech founders, billionaires under sanctions, unpenalized millionaires, celebrities, and influencers.
Shortly after the invasion, conversations in Moscow’s affluent Patriarch Ponds neighborhood turned to the best Dubai real estate deals, said Natalia Arkhangelskaya, who writes for Antiglyanets, a snarky and influential Telegram blog focused on Russia’s elite. A year later, Russians have ousted Brits and Indians as Dubai’s top real estate buyers, Russian-owned yachts dock at the marina, and private jets zigzag between Dubai and Moscow.
Russians can still buy apartments, open bank accounts and snag designer leather goods they previously shopped for in France.
“Dubai is built on the concept that people with money come here,” Arkhangelskaya said.
The UAE’s embrace of foreign business has lured a stream of Russian IT workers seeking to cut ties with Russia and stay linked to global markets. Start-ups seek financing from state-supported accelerators. Larger firms pursue clients to replace those lost to sanctions.
In the UAE, Russians fleeing Ukraine war seek success in ‘Dubaisk’
A 40th-floor apartment with stunning views in one of the Jumeirah Beach Residence towers is reserved for weekly meetups that are open to IT newcomers. On a windy January evening, the organizer, Ivan Fediakov, head of a consulting company, greeted guests in a black hoodie printed with “Everyone understands everything” — a catchphrase popularized by Alexey Pivovarov, a Russian journalist branded by Moscow as a foreign agent and whose YouTube channel has 3.5 million subscribers.
About a dozen people arrived to discuss opportunities in India, which has maintained ties with Russia despite the war. Most expressed bitterness about the Kremlin’s politics and a longing for Moscow when it was an aspiring global hub.
Alexandra Dorf, an IT entrepreneur, moved to Dubai with her two children in April. “No one knew what was going to happen next,” Dorf said.
“Borders can be shut abruptly,” she said. “A decision had to be made; you either stay or you go quickly.”
In 2022, Dorf severed all ties with Russia: She sold her apartment and car, and found a job in Dubai as a business development officer at an AI-focused company.
“For the first two months, you are constantly stressed. Your children have been torn out from their usual way of life, and you can’t enroll them into a school midyear,” she said. “But Dubai is a blooming hub.”
“The most important thing for me is to be able to develop international projects and to integrate my kids into a global community, so they grow up in a free environment,” she added.
Ukraine readies along all fronts for Russia’s next big attack
Aside from techies, many middle-class Russians followed the money to Dubai — for hospitality jobs, to open beauty salons or simply to work remotely far from the warmongering motherland.
Artem Babinov, founder of a co-living space called Colife in Moscow, opened an office in Dubai days before the invasion, hoping to attract British finance specialists as customers. The war changed his plans, and he now rents dozens of properties as short-term housing, mainly to Russians in their 30s. “The community here is key,” Babinov said. “People just need other people.”
Third exodus
Like the White Russian emigres of the Bolshevik era and the post-Soviet immigrants of the 1990s, many of those leaving Russia because of the war in Ukraine are probably gone for good.
Eidelman, the Russian historian, noted that the passage of time only makes it harder to return home. “Every extra month leads people to get used to a different country,” she said. “They get a job there, their children go to school, they begin to speak a different language. The longer the war lasts — the longer the dictatorship in the country continues — the fewer people will return.”
But technology makes this exodus unlike its predecessors, guaranteeing that Russians abroad will remain connected to their past.
Matthew Rojansky, president of the Washington-based U.S. Russia Foundation, said the expats could become “a repository of relevant skills for a better, freer, modern Russia.” For now, though, Rojansky said, the outflow sends a clear message.
“It’s historic,” he said. “These people are voting with their feet. They are leaving because of what the Putin regime is doing.”
Ebel reported from Yerevan and Ilyushina from Dubai.
One year of Russia’s war in Ukraine
Portraits of Ukraine: Every Ukrainian’s life has changed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion one year ago — in ways both big and small. They have learned to survive and support each other under extreme circumstances, in bomb shelters and hospitals, destroyed apartment complexes and ruined marketplaces. Scroll through portraits of Ukrainians reflecting on a year of loss, resilience and fear.
Battle of attrition: Over the past year, the war has morphed from a multi-front invasion that included Kyiv in the north to a conflict of attrition largely concentrated along an expanse of territory in the east and south. Follow the 600-mile front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces and take a look at where the fighting has been concentrated.
A year of living apart: Russia’s invasion, coupled with Ukraine’s martial law preventing fighting-age men from leaving the country, has forced agonizing decisions for millions of Ukrainian families about how to balance safety, duty and love, with once-intertwined lives having become unrecognizable. Here’s what a train station full of goodbyes looked like last year.
Deepening global divides: President Biden has trumpeted the reinvigorated Western alliance forged during the war as a “global coalition,” but a closer look suggests the world is far from united on issues raised by the Ukraine war. Evidence abounds that the effort to isolate Putin has failed and that sanctions haven’t stopped Russia, thanks to its oil and gas exports.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/20 ... r-ukraine/
Some had long opposed rising authoritarianism, and the invasion was a last straw. Others were driven by economic interest, to preserve livelihoods or escape the bite of sanctions. Then, last autumn, a military mobilization spurred hundreds of thousands of men to run.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war has set off a historic exodus of his own people. Initial data shows that at least 500,000, and perhaps nearly 1 million, have left in the year since the invasion began — a tidal wave on scale with emigration following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.
Now, as then, the departures stand to redefine the country for generations. And the flood may still be in its early stages. The war seems nowhere near finished. Any new conscription effort by the Kremlin will spark new departures, as will worsening economic conditions, which are expected as the conflict drags on.
The huge outflow has swelled existing Russian expatriate communities across the world, and created new ones.
Some fled nearby to countries like Armenia and Kazakhstan, across borders open to Russians. Some with visas escaped to Finland, the Baltic states or elsewhere in Europe. Others ventured farther, to the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Thailand, Argentina. Two men from Russia’s Far East even sailed a small boat to Alaska.
Russian citizens arriving through a border crossing in Dariali, Georgia, on Sept. 30, after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military mobilization. (Tako Robakidze/Bloomberg News)
The financial cost, while vast, is impossible to calculate. In late December, Russia’s Communications Ministry reported that 10 percent of the country’s IT workers had left in 2022 and not returned. Russia’s parliament is now debating a package of incentives to bring them back.
But there has also been talk in parliament of punishing Russians who left by stripping them of their assets at home. Putin has referred to these people as “scum” and said their exit would “cleanse” the country — even though some who left did not oppose him, or the war.
Russia ousts director of elite museum as Kremlin demands patriotic art
With the government severely restricting dissent, and implementing punishment for criticism of the war, those remaining in the depleted political opposition also faced a choice this year: prison or exile. Most chose exile. Activists and journalists are now clustered in cities such as Berlin and the capitals of Lithuania, Latvia and Georgia.
“This exodus is a terrible blow for Russia,” said Tamara Eidelman, a Russian historian who moved to Portugal after the invasion. “The layer that could have changed something in the country has now been washed away.”
While Ukrainian refugees were embraced in the West, many countries shunned the Russians, uncertain whether they were friends or foes, and whether, on some level, the entire country was culpable. Some nations have blocked arrivals by imposing entry restrictions or denying new visas, at times spreading panic among Russians already abroad, especially students.
Videos show long lines of people waiting at Russia's Mashtakovo border crossing with Kazakhstan on Sept. 22 and Sept. 25, after Russia's military mobilization. (Video: @aidos0070)
Meanwhile, the influx of Russians into countries such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, which have long sent immigrants to Russia, set off political tremors, straining ties between Moscow and the other former Soviet states. Real estate prices in those countries have shot up, causing tensions with local populations.
Nearly a year after the start of the invasion — and the new outflow of Russians — Washington Post journalists traveled to Yerevan and to Dubai for a close look at how the emigres are faring, and to ask if they ever plan to return. Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, a former Soviet republic, is a destination for Russians with lower financial mobility — an Orthodox Christian country where Russian is the second language. By contrast, pricey Dubai, in the Persian Gulf, is predominantly Muslim and Arabic-speaking, and attracts wealthier Russians seeking either glitz or business opportunity.
Yerevan
For many Russians choosing to flee, Armenia was a rare easy option. It is one of five ex-Soviet countries that allow Russians to enter with just a national ID — making it a popular destination for former soldiers, political activists and others needing a quick escape.
Given the shared religion and use of language, Russians typically do not face animosity or social stigma in Armenia. Obtaining residency permits is also straightforward, and living costs are lower than in the European Union.
Yerevan has attracted thousands of IT workers, young creatives and working-class people, including families with children, from across Russia. They have established new schools, bars, cafes and robust support networks.
In the courtyard of the “Free School” for Russian children, established in April, Maxim, a construction company manager, was waiting for his 8-year-old son, Timofey. The school started with 40 students in an apartment. Now, there are nearly 200 in a multistory building in the city center.
Maxim, whom The Post is identifying by only his first name for security reasons, flew to Yerevan from Volgograd to avoid the mobilization in September. “We left for the same reason everyone did: There was suddenly a real danger in the country for me and, above all, my family,” he said.
The family has adapted seamlessly to Yerevan. Everyone around them speaks Russian. Maxim works remotely on projects in Russia. Timofey likes his school and is learning Armenian. Maxim said he is sure the family will not return to Russia.
“Perhaps we will move on somewhere else, maybe even to Europe if things start to normalize,” he said.
At a shelter on the outskirts of Yerevan, Andrei, 25, a former military officer from Russia’s Rostov region, said he was also adjusting to a new life after similarly fleeing conscription. “I did not want to be a murderer in this criminal war,” said Andrei, who is being identified by his first name for safety reasons.
Andrei works as a delivery driver and shares a modest room with two other men in a shelter set up by Kovcheg, a support organization for Russian emigrants. “Before the war, I never followed politics, but after the invasion, I started reading about everything,” Andrei said. “I feel so ashamed about what Russia has done.”
Meanwhile, at a co-working space downtown, Russian activist groups organize debates, political meetings and therapy sessions. Messages of support for Ukraine hang on the walls, along with the white-and-blue flag adopted by Russia’s opposition. At one meeting in late January, dozens of Russians were hunched over tables, writing letters to political prisoners in Russia.
“The more letters, the better,” said Ivan Lyubimov, 37, an activist from Yekaterinburg. “It’s important that they don’t feel they are alone.” He held up a cartoon of a smiling panda. To circumvent prison censorship, they must avoid writing anything political, but drawings are certain to be delivered.
Tanya Raspopova, 26, arrived in Yerevan last March, with her husband but without a plan, overwhelmed and frightened.
Then she heard that another emigre was seeking partners to set up a bar, a space where Russian expats could come together, and she wanted to help. Tuf, named after the pink volcanic rock common throughout Yerevan, opened its doors within a month.
They started with a neon-lit bar and kitchen on the ground floor, which soon expanded into a small courtyard. Then they opened up a second floor, then a third. Upstairs there is now a recording studio, a clothing boutique and a tattoo parlor. On a Wednesday night in January, the place was packed with young Russians and Armenians singing karaoke, drinking cocktails and playing ping-pong. “We have since created such a big community, a big family,” Raspopova said. “Tuf is our new home.”
Dubai
Russians are everywhere in Dubai: clutching Dior totes perched atop Louis Vuitton suitcases in the airport, walking around malls in tracksuits, and filming TikToks and Reels near the Burj Khalifa.
Russia’s rich and powerful have long traveled to Dubai, but it was just one of many hot spots. That changed when the war cut Russians off from the West.
Thousands have chosen the UAE, which did not join Western sanctions and still has direct flights to Moscow, as their new home. Russians enjoy visa-free travel for 90 days, and it is relatively easy to get a national ID, through business or investment, for a longer stay
The high cost of living means there are no activists or journalists. Dubai is a haven, and the go-to playground, for Russian tech founders, billionaires under sanctions, unpenalized millionaires, celebrities, and influencers.
Shortly after the invasion, conversations in Moscow’s affluent Patriarch Ponds neighborhood turned to the best Dubai real estate deals, said Natalia Arkhangelskaya, who writes for Antiglyanets, a snarky and influential Telegram blog focused on Russia’s elite. A year later, Russians have ousted Brits and Indians as Dubai’s top real estate buyers, Russian-owned yachts dock at the marina, and private jets zigzag between Dubai and Moscow.
Russians can still buy apartments, open bank accounts and snag designer leather goods they previously shopped for in France.
“Dubai is built on the concept that people with money come here,” Arkhangelskaya said.
The UAE’s embrace of foreign business has lured a stream of Russian IT workers seeking to cut ties with Russia and stay linked to global markets. Start-ups seek financing from state-supported accelerators. Larger firms pursue clients to replace those lost to sanctions.
In the UAE, Russians fleeing Ukraine war seek success in ‘Dubaisk’
A 40th-floor apartment with stunning views in one of the Jumeirah Beach Residence towers is reserved for weekly meetups that are open to IT newcomers. On a windy January evening, the organizer, Ivan Fediakov, head of a consulting company, greeted guests in a black hoodie printed with “Everyone understands everything” — a catchphrase popularized by Alexey Pivovarov, a Russian journalist branded by Moscow as a foreign agent and whose YouTube channel has 3.5 million subscribers.
About a dozen people arrived to discuss opportunities in India, which has maintained ties with Russia despite the war. Most expressed bitterness about the Kremlin’s politics and a longing for Moscow when it was an aspiring global hub.
Alexandra Dorf, an IT entrepreneur, moved to Dubai with her two children in April. “No one knew what was going to happen next,” Dorf said.
“Borders can be shut abruptly,” she said. “A decision had to be made; you either stay or you go quickly.”
In 2022, Dorf severed all ties with Russia: She sold her apartment and car, and found a job in Dubai as a business development officer at an AI-focused company.
“For the first two months, you are constantly stressed. Your children have been torn out from their usual way of life, and you can’t enroll them into a school midyear,” she said. “But Dubai is a blooming hub.”
“The most important thing for me is to be able to develop international projects and to integrate my kids into a global community, so they grow up in a free environment,” she added.
Ukraine readies along all fronts for Russia’s next big attack
Aside from techies, many middle-class Russians followed the money to Dubai — for hospitality jobs, to open beauty salons or simply to work remotely far from the warmongering motherland.
Artem Babinov, founder of a co-living space called Colife in Moscow, opened an office in Dubai days before the invasion, hoping to attract British finance specialists as customers. The war changed his plans, and he now rents dozens of properties as short-term housing, mainly to Russians in their 30s. “The community here is key,” Babinov said. “People just need other people.”
Third exodus
Like the White Russian emigres of the Bolshevik era and the post-Soviet immigrants of the 1990s, many of those leaving Russia because of the war in Ukraine are probably gone for good.
Eidelman, the Russian historian, noted that the passage of time only makes it harder to return home. “Every extra month leads people to get used to a different country,” she said. “They get a job there, their children go to school, they begin to speak a different language. The longer the war lasts — the longer the dictatorship in the country continues — the fewer people will return.”
But technology makes this exodus unlike its predecessors, guaranteeing that Russians abroad will remain connected to their past.
Matthew Rojansky, president of the Washington-based U.S. Russia Foundation, said the expats could become “a repository of relevant skills for a better, freer, modern Russia.” For now, though, Rojansky said, the outflow sends a clear message.
“It’s historic,” he said. “These people are voting with their feet. They are leaving because of what the Putin regime is doing.”
Ebel reported from Yerevan and Ilyushina from Dubai.
One year of Russia’s war in Ukraine
Portraits of Ukraine: Every Ukrainian’s life has changed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion one year ago — in ways both big and small. They have learned to survive and support each other under extreme circumstances, in bomb shelters and hospitals, destroyed apartment complexes and ruined marketplaces. Scroll through portraits of Ukrainians reflecting on a year of loss, resilience and fear.
Battle of attrition: Over the past year, the war has morphed from a multi-front invasion that included Kyiv in the north to a conflict of attrition largely concentrated along an expanse of territory in the east and south. Follow the 600-mile front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces and take a look at where the fighting has been concentrated.
A year of living apart: Russia’s invasion, coupled with Ukraine’s martial law preventing fighting-age men from leaving the country, has forced agonizing decisions for millions of Ukrainian families about how to balance safety, duty and love, with once-intertwined lives having become unrecognizable. Here’s what a train station full of goodbyes looked like last year.
Deepening global divides: President Biden has trumpeted the reinvigorated Western alliance forged during the war as a “global coalition,” but a closer look suggests the world is far from united on issues raised by the Ukraine war. Evidence abounds that the effort to isolate Putin has failed and that sanctions haven’t stopped Russia, thanks to its oil and gas exports.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/20 ... r-ukraine/
Freedom is not a state. It is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau.. Freedom is a continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.-John Lewis
- Sonic1
- I need professional help
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I found that on AseanNow a while back, where it also got summarily ripped by many. Not one mention him owning the site though so that's news to me. As i no longer post on that site II thought I would put the video here and let posters make up their own mind. (There will be no more videos by that dick from me.) It would be nice for someone to interview some Russians but I'm sure many would be camera shy.Phnom Penh Trader wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 7:58 pmThis is the new owner of the old Thai Visa now Asean Now website an utter halfwit!nerdlinger wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 2:55 pmI stopped watching at the point at which he seemingly asserted that the Thai vendor selling grilled fish, meat and prawns was evidence of a Russian cultural takeover, because Russians love fish.
Freedom is not a state. It is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau.. Freedom is a continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.-John Lewis
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- I live above an internet cafe
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- Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2023 11:31 pm
A great (if long!) read but it just confirms what I already knew,that the war in Ukraine is not the Russian people’s war but that of Putin’s despotic dictatorship.Sonic1 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 8:27 pmFrom the Washington Post Feb,13 2023: YEREVAN, Armenia — As Russian troops stormed into Ukraine last February, sending millions of Ukrainians fleeing for their lives, thousands of Russians also raced to pack their bags and leave home, fearing the Kremlin would shut the borders and impose martial law.
Some had long opposed rising authoritarianism, and the invasion was a last straw. Others were driven by economic interest, to preserve livelihoods or escape the bite of sanctions. Then, last autumn, a military mobilization spurred hundreds of thousands of men to run.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war has set off a historic exodus of his own people. Initial data shows that at least 500,000, and perhaps nearly 1 million, have left in the year since the invasion began — a tidal wave on scale with emigration following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.
Now, as then, the departures stand to redefine the country for generations. And the flood may still be in its early stages. The war seems nowhere near finished. Any new conscription effort by the Kremlin will spark new departures, as will worsening economic conditions, which are expected as the conflict drags on.
The huge outflow has swelled existing Russian expatriate communities across the world, and created new ones.
Some fled nearby to countries like Armenia and Kazakhstan, across borders open to Russians. Some with visas escaped to Finland, the Baltic states or elsewhere in Europe. Others ventured farther, to the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Thailand, Argentina. Two men from Russia’s Far East even sailed a small boat to Alaska.
Russian citizens arriving through a border crossing in Dariali, Georgia, on Sept. 30, after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military mobilization. (Tako Robakidze/Bloomberg News)
The financial cost, while vast, is impossible to calculate. In late December, Russia’s Communications Ministry reported that 10 percent of the country’s IT workers had left in 2022 and not returned. Russia’s parliament is now debating a package of incentives to bring them back.
But there has also been talk in parliament of punishing Russians who left by stripping them of their assets at home. Putin has referred to these people as “scum” and said their exit would “cleanse” the country — even though some who left did not oppose him, or the war.
Russia ousts director of elite museum as Kremlin demands patriotic art
With the government severely restricting dissent, and implementing punishment for criticism of the war, those remaining in the depleted political opposition also faced a choice this year: prison or exile. Most chose exile. Activists and journalists are now clustered in cities such as Berlin and the capitals of Lithuania, Latvia and Georgia.
“This exodus is a terrible blow for Russia,” said Tamara Eidelman, a Russian historian who moved to Portugal after the invasion. “The layer that could have changed something in the country has now been washed away.”
While Ukrainian refugees were embraced in the West, many countries shunned the Russians, uncertain whether they were friends or foes, and whether, on some level, the entire country was culpable. Some nations have blocked arrivals by imposing entry restrictions or denying new visas, at times spreading panic among Russians already abroad, especially students.
Videos show long lines of people waiting at Russia's Mashtakovo border crossing with Kazakhstan on Sept. 22 and Sept. 25, after Russia's military mobilization. (Video: @aidos0070)
Meanwhile, the influx of Russians into countries such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, which have long sent immigrants to Russia, set off political tremors, straining ties between Moscow and the other former Soviet states. Real estate prices in those countries have shot up, causing tensions with local populations.
Nearly a year after the start of the invasion — and the new outflow of Russians — Washington Post journalists traveled to Yerevan and to Dubai for a close look at how the emigres are faring, and to ask if they ever plan to return. Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, a former Soviet republic, is a destination for Russians with lower financial mobility — an Orthodox Christian country where Russian is the second language. By contrast, pricey Dubai, in the Persian Gulf, is predominantly Muslim and Arabic-speaking, and attracts wealthier Russians seeking either glitz or business opportunity.
Yerevan
For many Russians choosing to flee, Armenia was a rare easy option. It is one of five ex-Soviet countries that allow Russians to enter with just a national ID — making it a popular destination for former soldiers, political activists and others needing a quick escape.
Given the shared religion and use of language, Russians typically do not face animosity or social stigma in Armenia. Obtaining residency permits is also straightforward, and living costs are lower than in the European Union.
Yerevan has attracted thousands of IT workers, young creatives and working-class people, including families with children, from across Russia. They have established new schools, bars, cafes and robust support networks.
In the courtyard of the “Free School” for Russian children, established in April, Maxim, a construction company manager, was waiting for his 8-year-old son, Timofey. The school started with 40 students in an apartment. Now, there are nearly 200 in a multistory building in the city center.
Maxim, whom The Post is identifying by only his first name for security reasons, flew to Yerevan from Volgograd to avoid the mobilization in September. “We left for the same reason everyone did: There was suddenly a real danger in the country for me and, above all, my family,” he said.
The family has adapted seamlessly to Yerevan. Everyone around them speaks Russian. Maxim works remotely on projects in Russia. Timofey likes his school and is learning Armenian. Maxim said he is sure the family will not return to Russia.
“Perhaps we will move on somewhere else, maybe even to Europe if things start to normalize,” he said.
At a shelter on the outskirts of Yerevan, Andrei, 25, a former military officer from Russia’s Rostov region, said he was also adjusting to a new life after similarly fleeing conscription. “I did not want to be a murderer in this criminal war,” said Andrei, who is being identified by his first name for safety reasons.
Andrei works as a delivery driver and shares a modest room with two other men in a shelter set up by Kovcheg, a support organization for Russian emigrants. “Before the war, I never followed politics, but after the invasion, I started reading about everything,” Andrei said. “I feel so ashamed about what Russia has done.”
Meanwhile, at a co-working space downtown, Russian activist groups organize debates, political meetings and therapy sessions. Messages of support for Ukraine hang on the walls, along with the white-and-blue flag adopted by Russia’s opposition. At one meeting in late January, dozens of Russians were hunched over tables, writing letters to political prisoners in Russia.
“The more letters, the better,” said Ivan Lyubimov, 37, an activist from Yekaterinburg. “It’s important that they don’t feel they are alone.” He held up a cartoon of a smiling panda. To circumvent prison censorship, they must avoid writing anything political, but drawings are certain to be delivered.
Tanya Raspopova, 26, arrived in Yerevan last March, with her husband but without a plan, overwhelmed and frightened.
Then she heard that another emigre was seeking partners to set up a bar, a space where Russian expats could come together, and she wanted to help. Tuf, named after the pink volcanic rock common throughout Yerevan, opened its doors within a month.
They started with a neon-lit bar and kitchen on the ground floor, which soon expanded into a small courtyard. Then they opened up a second floor, then a third. Upstairs there is now a recording studio, a clothing boutique and a tattoo parlor. On a Wednesday night in January, the place was packed with young Russians and Armenians singing karaoke, drinking cocktails and playing ping-pong. “We have since created such a big community, a big family,” Raspopova said. “Tuf is our new home.”
Dubai
Russians are everywhere in Dubai: clutching Dior totes perched atop Louis Vuitton suitcases in the airport, walking around malls in tracksuits, and filming TikToks and Reels near the Burj Khalifa.
Russia’s rich and powerful have long traveled to Dubai, but it was just one of many hot spots. That changed when the war cut Russians off from the West.
Thousands have chosen the UAE, which did not join Western sanctions and still has direct flights to Moscow, as their new home. Russians enjoy visa-free travel for 90 days, and it is relatively easy to get a national ID, through business or investment, for a longer stay
The high cost of living means there are no activists or journalists. Dubai is a haven, and the go-to playground, for Russian tech founders, billionaires under sanctions, unpenalized millionaires, celebrities, and influencers.
Shortly after the invasion, conversations in Moscow’s affluent Patriarch Ponds neighborhood turned to the best Dubai real estate deals, said Natalia Arkhangelskaya, who writes for Antiglyanets, a snarky and influential Telegram blog focused on Russia’s elite. A year later, Russians have ousted Brits and Indians as Dubai’s top real estate buyers, Russian-owned yachts dock at the marina, and private jets zigzag between Dubai and Moscow.
Russians can still buy apartments, open bank accounts and snag designer leather goods they previously shopped for in France.
“Dubai is built on the concept that people with money come here,” Arkhangelskaya said.
The UAE’s embrace of foreign business has lured a stream of Russian IT workers seeking to cut ties with Russia and stay linked to global markets. Start-ups seek financing from state-supported accelerators. Larger firms pursue clients to replace those lost to sanctions.
In the UAE, Russians fleeing Ukraine war seek success in ‘Dubaisk’
A 40th-floor apartment with stunning views in one of the Jumeirah Beach Residence towers is reserved for weekly meetups that are open to IT newcomers. On a windy January evening, the organizer, Ivan Fediakov, head of a consulting company, greeted guests in a black hoodie printed with “Everyone understands everything” — a catchphrase popularized by Alexey Pivovarov, a Russian journalist branded by Moscow as a foreign agent and whose YouTube channel has 3.5 million subscribers.
About a dozen people arrived to discuss opportunities in India, which has maintained ties with Russia despite the war. Most expressed bitterness about the Kremlin’s politics and a longing for Moscow when it was an aspiring global hub.
Alexandra Dorf, an IT entrepreneur, moved to Dubai with her two children in April. “No one knew what was going to happen next,” Dorf said.
“Borders can be shut abruptly,” she said. “A decision had to be made; you either stay or you go quickly.”
In 2022, Dorf severed all ties with Russia: She sold her apartment and car, and found a job in Dubai as a business development officer at an AI-focused company.
“For the first two months, you are constantly stressed. Your children have been torn out from their usual way of life, and you can’t enroll them into a school midyear,” she said. “But Dubai is a blooming hub.”
“The most important thing for me is to be able to develop international projects and to integrate my kids into a global community, so they grow up in a free environment,” she added.
Ukraine readies along all fronts for Russia’s next big attack
Aside from techies, many middle-class Russians followed the money to Dubai — for hospitality jobs, to open beauty salons or simply to work remotely far from the warmongering motherland.
Artem Babinov, founder of a co-living space called Colife in Moscow, opened an office in Dubai days before the invasion, hoping to attract British finance specialists as customers. The war changed his plans, and he now rents dozens of properties as short-term housing, mainly to Russians in their 30s. “The community here is key,” Babinov said. “People just need other people.”
Third exodus
Like the White Russian emigres of the Bolshevik era and the post-Soviet immigrants of the 1990s, many of those leaving Russia because of the war in Ukraine are probably gone for good.
Eidelman, the Russian historian, noted that the passage of time only makes it harder to return home. “Every extra month leads people to get used to a different country,” she said. “They get a job there, their children go to school, they begin to speak a different language. The longer the war lasts — the longer the dictatorship in the country continues — the fewer people will return.”
But technology makes this exodus unlike its predecessors, guaranteeing that Russians abroad will remain connected to their past.
Matthew Rojansky, president of the Washington-based U.S. Russia Foundation, said the expats could become “a repository of relevant skills for a better, freer, modern Russia.” For now, though, Rojansky said, the outflow sends a clear message.
“It’s historic,” he said. “These people are voting with their feet. They are leaving because of what the Putin regime is doing.”
Ebel reported from Yerevan and Ilyushina from Dubai.
One year of Russia’s war in Ukraine
Portraits of Ukraine: Every Ukrainian’s life has changed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion one year ago — in ways both big and small. They have learned to survive and support each other under extreme circumstances, in bomb shelters and hospitals, destroyed apartment complexes and ruined marketplaces. Scroll through portraits of Ukrainians reflecting on a year of loss, resilience and fear.
Battle of attrition: Over the past year, the war has morphed from a multi-front invasion that included Kyiv in the north to a conflict of attrition largely concentrated along an expanse of territory in the east and south. Follow the 600-mile front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces and take a look at where the fighting has been concentrated.
A year of living apart: Russia’s invasion, coupled with Ukraine’s martial law preventing fighting-age men from leaving the country, has forced agonizing decisions for millions of Ukrainian families about how to balance safety, duty and love, with once-intertwined lives having become unrecognizable. Here’s what a train station full of goodbyes looked like last year.
Deepening global divides: President Biden has trumpeted the reinvigorated Western alliance forged during the war as a “global coalition,” but a closer look suggests the world is far from united on issues raised by the Ukraine war. Evidence abounds that the effort to isolate Putin has failed and that sanctions haven’t stopped Russia, thanks to its oil and gas exports.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/20 ... r-ukraine/
In fact I’ve met and befriended many Russians on my travels in Malta,Ibiza and the Algarve,Portugal.
I was actually training in Martial Arts in Iklin,Malta with a couple of Russians a girl and a boy and we were all great friends.
All the Russians I’ve met have been happy,friendly and very open people in contrast the Ukrainians I know and have had business dealings with in some cases were absolute idiots!
The West is just prolonging the war in my opinion unjustifiably but American and European politicians don’t give a crap how many people are killed,as long as they come out of it smelling of roses?
Just like in Germany during the war the people that suffer the most are invariably the citizens of the nation that goes to war,the Nuremberg trials claimed that following orders was not a defense but what was the alternative a bullet to the back of the head?
Such a sad time in history for Russia an incredible country I’d love to visit steeped in history,what’s left once the dust and smoke clears will be the same as Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge murdered the intellectuals just tragic?
There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see. ~ Leonardo da Vinci
Question: if the Ukrainian response IS a peoples war, why have all men under the age of 60 been banned from leaving?Phnom Penh Trader wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 9:10 pm
A great (if long!) read but it just confirms what I already knew,that the war in Ukraine is not the Russian people’s war but that of Putin’s despotic dictatorship.
Males aged 18 to 60 are not allowed to leave Ukraine as long as martial law is in place (see Russian invasion of Ukraine, Martial law and Decree of 24 February 2022).
And why have so many fled to Thailand, and Bali?
https://www.9news.com.au/world/russia-u ... ecbf244531
https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/as ... ukrainians
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60 foreign casino workers flee immigration by breaking through fence and jumping into river. (Video)
by FishHead Phil » Fri Aug 19, 2022 4:05 pm » in Cambodia News - 2 Replies
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Last post by FishHead Phil
Fri Aug 19, 2022 6:05 pm
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