Meduza published a very interesting article about the impressions of Russians who emigrated from Russia in recent years but return home once or twice a year.

[OMSK]

“This was my second visit to Russia this year, and this time the trip was much harder. At the airports I saw a huge number of soldiers, including those with crutches, without arms or legs. In my entire life—neither during the Chechen campaigns nor during the Afghan war—have I seen so many mutilated people. (…) Food and goods prices shocked me almost even more: they are higher than in Germany, while the quality is noticeably worse. The internet, which used to be almost among the best in the world in terms of speed, is now barely usable, and many familiar services are blocked. It feels like stepping back ten years in time.”

[NOVOCHERKASSK]

“I didn’t recognize the country or the people. My city is in southern Russia, very close to the Ukrainian border, and it was full of military equipment and soldiers. The latter brought an amount of money to Novocherkassk that, by our standards, had never been seen before, and they spend it in the wildest ways imaginable: unbelievable amounts of alcohol are bought, prostitution is flourishing. There are many wounded and disabled people in hotels and rented apartments. Ninety percent of them are constantly drunk.”

[LIPECK]

“The deterioration of infrastructure shocked me. Roads, curbs, fountains, lighting, bus stops—everything either doesn’t work, is broken, or is in terrible condition. It’s clear that there is much less money in the [city] budget. Economic decline is also visible. Half-closed shopping malls, outdated restaurants, major brands leaving the city. Perhaps the most striking example in Lipetsk is the Mercure hotel in the city center. Excellent location, top-level rooms and services—but now it stands empty. As I understood from [conversations with locals], the hotel was taken away for the benefit of a local official. (…) [My friends and relatives] say yes, everything is changing, but not to such a critical extent. I feel that it is hard for them to admit that everything has become much worse, because if they admit that, they would have to admit many other things as well. I don’t judge them.”

[MOSCOW AND SAINT PETERSBURG]

“Overall, a suffocating sense of uncertainty and growing distrust toward the people around you is very noticeable. Especially in public places: on the metro, the bus, in taxis, you have to speak very cautiously and indirectly—just in case. Those [relatives and friends] who stayed in Moscow and Saint Petersburg say that all this reminds them of the time of the Chechen wars, though of course many new shades have appeared.”

[PERM]

“The sense of isolation from the rest of the world is intensifying. We have the feeling that a digital GULAG is taking shape. The fighting soldiers have not yet returned en masse, but their presence is already felt. They demand respect and recognition, but society as a whole does not regard them as ‘heroes.’ Against this backdrop, crime, conflicts, and stabbings are increasing. It is hard to imagine what comes next. Periodic internet shutdowns paralyze all activity. I felt this even in Perm—I can’t imagine what it must be like for people living, for example, in Rostov.”

[SAINT PETERSBURG]

“The differences in living standards have become striking. In some places it felt like returning to the 1990s. Shopping malls have become ‘for the rich’ (for example, ‘Mega,’ with substitute brands and wild prices for clothing) and ‘for the poor’ (with prices two or three times lower, in a ‘trying on clothes on cardboard’ format). Across from my building, for instance, instead of a lawn there is now a market full of Chinese goods.”

[OMSK]

“In 2023 I visited relatives for the first time, and then I noticed with surprise—and even fear—how much hatred toward Europeans and Ukrainians had grown in society. Tension and hostility toward all ‘outsiders’ could be felt in the air. Even relatives and acquaintances were not ashamed to say out loud that ‘Europe must be finished off’—at the holiday table people were smiling while talking about how Europe would freeze if the gas were shut off. When I asked whether they had already bought this year’s firewood and coal for heating, since there is no money for it, they became embarrassed.”