The Russian Exodus: Istanbul Dispatch (preview)

Thousands and maybe even tens of thousands of Russians have fled the country in a panic following Putin’s regime change invasion of Ukraine — going to wherever they can: Georgia, Turkey, Armenia, Dubai, the EU. To get a sense of what’s going on and who is fleeing and what people are thinking, we talk to Anna, an old friend of Evgenia’s from her school days, who is currently in Istanbul and among Russians who have fled.The picture we get is that there are two basic groups of people fleeing Russia. One is journalists and opposition media types. The second is a lot of freaked out people — those who have some money and are scared of what might come next, like a military draft or totally closed borders. Anna thinks that lot of people in the second category will ultimately return to Russia is things stabilize because…well…it’s not like there are big opportunities waiting for them in the west, unless they're programmers or computer engineers.This is a preview of a full episode that is only available to subscribers. To hear the rest, sign up and listen here.—Yasha LevineListen to our previous episodes…including the last two we did on the Russia’s war in Ukraine.* Putin's Grievance Speech...and, f**k this war.* “Operation Z” This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yasha.substack.com/subscribe