Authors

Discussion

The large-scale emigration of Russians after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has generated a qualitatively new wave of mobility distinct from earlier migration streams. This paper builds on the ongoing research project Democracy in Exile (DemEx), which examines Russian migrant communities across multiple host countries. The empirical base includes 40 in-depth interviews, each lasting between one and three hours, conducted in 2024 and 2025 in the United States, Israel, Germany, and Finland. The interviews explore migrants’ strategies of adaptation, coping mechanisms, professional reorientation, and civic activism in exile. While the study is ongoing, the data already reveals important trends in how migrants navigate their new environments.

Our analysis is structured around three dimensions. First, we examine the “arenas of interaction” that frame migrants’ integration in the host countries: the political (interaction with host-country political regimes through the frameworks of migration policies, visa regimes, residence permits, etc. which are deeply shaped by the host state’s geopolitical positioning toward Russia after the invasion.); professional (challenges in employment, recognition of qualifications, and the transfer of human capital), diasporic (support and tensions with older Russian-speaking communities), and cultural (gaps between idealized “democratic” systems and persistent post-colonial stereotypes).Second, we distinguish between “vertical activists,” —journalists, NGO leaders, legal experts, and academics—institutionally embedded professionals often repressed before departure, and “horizontal activists,” local civic actors emerged from local civic engagement—volunteering, solving local social problems, or informal networks, who were drawn into migration by the war. Their strategies of adaptation abroad reflect the heterogeneity of Russian civil society.Third, we analyze the “double challenge” faced by migrants arriving in host countries undergoing crises such as political polarization, rightward turns in Europe, or war in Israel. The coincidence of war-induced emigration with political crises in host societies is a distinctive feature of this migration wave. Migration is always a stressor, involving disrupted expectations, difficult adaptation, and the reconfiguration of identity. When host countries themselves undergo upheaval, the stress is doubled. The “double challenge” thus becomes a crucial factor in shaping long-term migration trajectories.By centering migrants’ narratives, this study contributes to broader debates on forced migration, civil society in exile, and the resilience of democracy under strain. The comparative perspective—across the United States, Israel, Germany, and Finland—underscores how differing national contexts condition the possibilities and limits of exile