Anna:"It was quite tough at first. We came to a culture we knew nothing about, which at times led to certain miscommunication with the locals. We didn't understand their jokes, they didn't get ours, it was like a glass wall: Kazakhs speak Russian, just as we do, but the background cultural knowledge is pretty different. It caused somewhat of a shame. We'd love to answer every question of 'why did you move here?' with a long story of how we've been interested in the culture of The Great Steppe and how after long research we decided to choose this place as our home, but in the reality, it was just a 24-hour-made decision where the choice was to possibly die or to move anywhere, and we chose the second".

Mikhail and Katherina:"We came here because it was clear that it won’t be possible to practice our profession in Russia. Katherina works for an international platform and all bank connections with Russia were cut off (not only bank, any kind of connections). We came without international passports, at that time it was still possible to make them upon arrival in Kazakhstan. We didn’t have many problems, our story is not the worst one. We feel better here than in Russia. You know, as we came here, I realized that one need not prepare to go to the shop. I mean emotionally. It‘s so strange, now I can simply go to the supermarket to buy what I need and nobody will yell at me without a reason, just because they want to yell”

Mikhail

Katherina

Agnieszka

Kristina:”I lived in Moscow but was born in Krasnoyarsk, Agnieszka, my daughter, was born in Moscow. Her father left us, so I had to spend some time in my hometown, even though I love Moscow. We came to Kazakhstan at the beginning of March. I didn’t have much money. We slept in the waiting area of the airport, the railway station, and a hostel. Till I found this flat. What’s next? Not going back. Some Russians make me feel that it’s pointless. Moscow is a bit different from other places like my hometown for example… People there simply refuse to listen to something that actually makes sense. Some people, unfortunately, believe in all of this; I was talking about all the damage the Russian army did to Ukraine and I was telling them a story about my Ukrainian friend who came by foot with two children in her hands to the Polish border. As an answer I heard: you are a Nazi. Some believe this kind of news is fake. There is no sense to go back to Russia now or in the near future. Not for us”

Alena: “I came in March but couldn’t find a job in the beginning, so I had to come back. Later I got an offer starting in August. My husband Vadim came for a visit just one day before mobilisation. As you might guess, he decided not to come back. What’s next? Well, I don’t plan further ahead than two weeks. My only rule for this time is not to borrow. In the worst case, I would work at the stables. I’m not joking. I love horses; it’s not a bad job. I changed some jobs throughout my life and sometimes my work was going directly to the shelf to collect dust. It’s not nice to feel that your effort was for nothing. But I still think, it’s possible to stay in Russia if your work does not depend on someone else decisions you don’t agree with. I understand people who stay in Russia because of their job; at the end of the day whether one could or could not leave directly on the 25th of February depended on how much one has to lose. Family? Do you have money, did you lose it?”

Alexander was born in Novosibirsk, studied in St Petersburg. “I came at the end of September when mobilisation started. I am trying to get to Europe. I was going to start a Ph.D. In Russia, Ph.D. students are not obliged to go to the army, but I decided not to risk it. I was also politically active and have been in Ukraine twice since 2014 (before the Russian invasion in 2022 started). Some people actually support the war. Luckily, not in my circle. Although some have an opinion that fleeing makes the situation even worse [because the future of the country doesn’t look bright if all reasonable people leave it]”

Sergey and his son Boris

Vasiliy:“I was born in Khabarovsk but lived till recently in St Petersburg. I came here on the first of October. My family is still in Russia [they joined Vasily in November] and my wife told me to go as soon as possible, she had a better feeling about the situation in contrast to me and understood everything from the beginning. The summons came when I was already in Kazakhstan. I would return. I was born there… If the war stops and the government changes. However, I don’t think my wife wants it. My plans? Well, to find a job here. Right now I am doing some freelance journalistic work but actually, I am a historian… Before I was thinking about getting a position at a rural school. Such places usually don’t have enough students and money, so the classes consist of children of different ages. They can’t afford a teacher for every subject, one has to teach two or even more. And in their opinion, history goes together with either English or sports. Unfortunately, I’m not so proficient, in either of these”

Sergey:“We lived close to the Russian-Kazahk border, where it takes 6 hours to get to Astana (for Siberia it’s not far. For us (Siberians) Kazakhstan is not another land, it’s very close and we are strongly connected. I came with my two eldest sons (Fiodor and Jacob) on the 9th of May (the victory day in Russia, a celebration of WWII ending). Everybody thought it was a likely day for the government to declare mobilisation. Although my wife Maria was not sure if she should go. While I and my parents are very “anti-war”, Maria prefers to live her own life and stay away from politics. I didn’ want to go alone leaving Maria with 3 children, it would have been too much for her. So we decided that she stays just with Boris; it was the most convenient solution for both of us. In the summer (about a month later) she changed her opinion; she and Boris also got into Astana. I can’t say that it was an exact event that changed her mind, just many little things. In this situation, it is getting harder to stay away from politics”

Polina: “I came here in March but had to get back to finish school in Russia. In September I started my bachelor’s in Astana. In the beginning, I did not want to leave, I called myself a patriot, even though I did not support Putin’s politics. In the first weeks after the declaration of war,nobody knew what is going on. I took the carrier boxes for our cats from the top shelves and put them near the door in case we all would have to quickly run to a shelter. When my mother said she wants to leave, I cried. Afterward, I realized it was not a bad idea. I don’t miss Russia. How can you miss something that doesn’t exist? I mean, my idea of ‘what is Russia’ was not entirely correct. What I actually miss is something more personal, some friends, some places… Life here is different”.

Astana, double exposure

In the village near Astana