Hi all,
When Russia invaded Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians left their homes in search of safety. But this wasn’t the only large-scale migration that began in that fateful year of 2022.
During the same period, hundreds of thousands of Russians also left their country, escaping mobilisation and the increasingly authoritarian nature of Vladimir Putin’s regime — some out of fear, others to avoid the draft. According to some estimates, up to a million Russians may have decided to leave their homeland.
It is unclear how many of them ended up in Central Asia, as local governments have not released comprehensive data. What is clear, however, is that this migration has had a profound impact on local societies and the region as a whole.
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Today, we look at Russian wartime migration into Central Asia: how it unfolded, what motivated Russians to choose the region as their destination, how they rebuilt their lives there, and how this movement has reshaped Central Asia.
Joining us is Yan Matusevich, a journalist and Ph.D. candidate in cultural anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His doctoral research focuses on the experiences of Russian exiles who have relocated to Central Asia since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
I hope you will enjoy this one.
Have a lovely end of the week,
— Agnieszka
