Stories of those who moved to Kazahstan from Russia after February 2022. Part III.
So how did I start this project?
Autumn 2022. With a bunch of personal problems, I am flying to Astana from Munich. Meanwhile, the Russian “special operation” has lasted for more than half a year and definitely won’t end tomorrow (in the beginning, they said it would be a month-long thing). And this is making me feel lost and powerless. I am a small person who cannot change the course of the game.
5000 km away from a place that I recently started to call home. I am trying to believe in this number, but how is it possible? Although during the last year, so many absurd things have happened, so it’s getting harder and harder to understand the border between reality and a nightmare. Harder and harder to stay sane.
And so far away, I found people who felt the same. Who were pushed to move to another country, when most of them didn’t plan this.
I moved to Germany five years ago, and I actually don’t know why I decided to leave my country. I gave different reasons to different people; part of me just wanted to escape, and I was unsure what I wanted. But the truth is, there was something in the air. It was hard to breathe in Russia; it just got much worse. I had my problems in Germany, and I had moments of regret and guilt (I am another person who has left and is not trying to change the situation in Russia from the inside), but in general, I am grateful that this country accepted me.
Almaty
Lilya came to Almaty in October 2022. The final decision was made after the farewell party of a friend who was leaving Russia. It was not the first goodbye but one of many; everyone was leaving. Police officers were on the streets, and the news was getting worse and worse. Despite catching a cold upon arrival, she loved Almaty. Everything was new and colorful; even in the supermarkets, she could stare at the shelves for hours. Later, due to certain circumstances, she had to leave Almaty for Tbilisi. She met many friends whom she hadn’t seen for a year and celebrated her birthday.
Nevertheless, she felt utterly lost and didn’t know what to do next. Additionally, Tbilisi is expensive, and Lilya couldn’t find the energy to adapt to the new place again. Almaty was calling her; there, she felt more welcomed. Aside from this, things between her and her fiancé had just begun before she had left for Tbilisi.
Lilya works in cinematography in a team of production designers. She and her colleague are a good team, so she almost always follows him whenever he finds a project. If work brings her to Russia, she goes to Russia.
“But every time while being there, I try to concentrate on work and don’t think about the surroundings. Only with this state of mind is it possible to be in Russia. I always remember I’ll come back to Kazakhstan. Even though I am afraid Russia won’t let me go every time. Most people in Russia stay silent and don’t share their opinion about the war. I’m around those who are against it, but I had some uncomfortable interactions with those who support the Russian government”.
“Is it worse talking about us, a small group of Russian opposition-minded people who decided to leave? Our problems fade away compared to those of Ukrainians, who actually suffer. Who were forced to abandon their home….”
While working on this, I had the same thoughts, but it was the first time I heard these words from another person. This project lasted for months, and I almost gave up once.
But I began the project not to provoke a feeling of pity. On the contrary, I wanted to show a part of history. How is the system spitting out those who don’t want to conform? And after a while, I realized that this topic is much more complex than I initially thought.
Life is not just black and white.
Eugene left Russia at the end of September 2022. He first went to Minsk, and his dog Daniel stayed in Moscow. Later, Eugene found a way to get to Kazakhstan from Belarus. At the same time, Daniel was smuggled to Almaty by Russian Railways employees (his documents were incomplete, and there was not enough time to finish them). When the invasion started, he didn’t want to leave. Who would stay if everyone who isn’t easily influenced by Russian propaganda goes away? People should learn how to analyze and compare information.
In Autumn, Eugene decided to leave because it would be too dangerous to stay. This decision was made easier as he can work remotely; he runs a video production company and works in an online school.
Even though Belarus and Kazakhstan have their own problems and are not the most secure places, in comparison to Moscow, Eugene could sense an almost forgotten feeling of safety. It was exciting and heady. After a while, though, he had to return to Russia as online communication was not anymore sufficient for his work.
Right now, it’s relatively quiet. Eugene doesn’t know where to go next, but staying is not an option. So instead, he tries to save as much money as possible and prepare the dog for traveling. And when there is no time to think anymore, he’ll buy the ticket somewhere and go.
Aydar was born in Kazan. In addition to Russian, he speaks Tatar, which is relatively close to Kazakh. He is a professional Ballet dancer, so in Almaty he became a dance instructor. Aydar finds language crucial to teaching sports and dancing; one has to explain and motivate the students. Even though he knows English, he would not be able to catch students’ attention using this language. So Kazakhstan turned out to be a place to be at this moment.
As a child, Aydar hadn’t left Russia, except for one trip to Türkiye at the age of 13. However, the idea of traveling was becoming increasingly exciting to him, and as a dancer, he could visit 33 countries in 10 years.
Aydar had a position in a theater in Samara. On the 5th of October, 2022, he left Russia. Although moving to Almaty undermined his career, he considered it a meaningful experience. In addition to working at the ballet school, he performs at parties from time to time. At this kind of events, one has to know how to dance everything, and he is learning a lot. Living in Kazakhstan as an immigrant is, of course, more difficult than in Russia. However, he enjoys it. Any experience life gives you has both advantages and disadvantages, so why not take the most out of it instead of focusing on the downsides?
“Here, they like Russians more than in Russia.”
Kirill and his family come from Novosibirsk. Back in their hometown, he had a law firm. For lawyers, it’s tough to emigrate, though moving to Kazakhstan is easier than moving elsewhere. So they first crossed the border when his youngest son was three weeks old. After staying in different places, they finally settled in Almaty and fell in love with the city at first sight.
Kirill himself grew up in Kazakhstan. As a child in school, he always had good marks; his teachers’ hearts were touched by a cute blond Russian boy reciting poems in Kazakh (though he understood nothing in them). Nowadays, every time his son says “Sau bol” (goodbye in Kazakh), everyone around can’t suppress a smile. In his opinion, if one respects local customs and tries to learn the language, integration shouldn’t be a problem. Currently, it’s better to be Russian in Kazakhstan than in Russia.
I am in the middle of nowhere: all I can see from the window of the train are endless fields and the sky. It feels like the sea of soil; these little hills are the waves. I haven’t been so calm for a while, I could simply look at this for hours. I am falling asleep to the sound of the rumbling wheels. 15 hours, Almaty-Astana long distance train. I am crossing the country from the south to the north. 6 a.m. Cold. In Almaty it was warm- Spring – and in Astana I see the melting snow. Almaty had no wind but trees and mountains, here it’s the other way around. Welcome to the steppe.
Kazakhstan is a peculiar place. The land of nomads is huge, with quite a few places not suitable for living, and people from the south and the north of it are pretty different. It’s kind of similar to the places I’ve been before but not completely. Astana looks like a typical megapolis. But it’s something else. It’s Asia.
On one hand, it looks much more futuristic in comparison to Europe; on the other hand, the quality of life could be better. Most of the services are digital, cash is basically no longer in use – even the street musicians and beggars ask for transfers. I had a feeling that of being observed; there is much more surveillance than in Europe. But apparently people don’t seem to care. After a while living like this becomes pretty easy, but getting used to it takes a while.
Astana
They wished it hadn’t happened and they wouldn’t have had to leave the country. But at the same time, they knew the war is inevitable.
Valentina lived in St Petersburg her whole life, Danila moved there from Samara and thus was familiar with the immigration process. He is a historian and due to his knowledge and occupation he was pretty aware of the political environment in the country and could predict the development of the situation, even when some political experts were still doubting it. While it was not that surprising for Danila, Valentina felt like she was in delirium for a few days after declaration of the special operation. The whole process of immigration was challenging and completely new for her. She was born and grew up in St Petersburg and could not imagine what it would be like to move from her hometown. She loved her job in the museum and had friendly colleagues. She didn’t even tell her closest friends and relatives about her decision to leave, for fear of being talked out of this, which, in turn, made it even harder.
Despite liking their life in St Petersburg, Danila and Valentina had thoughts about leaving Russia before but have always postponed.
Because of this, they had even saved some money as a last resort, in case something happened. So when something happened, they could no longer postpone the inevitable. They flew to Astana immediately after the invasion in February was declared.
The state language in Kazakhstan is Kazakh (Turkic language family), although most of the country speaks Russian as well. Kazakhstan and Russia are strongly connected, but the cultures of the two countries are very different. Historically, Russia has had both positive and negative influences on Kazakhstan. I was interested in what Kazakh people actually think about Russians coming to their country. Get away or welcome? So this time I talked not only to Russian immigrants but to some locals to better understand their feelings about the current situation.
Nurbek comes from Simey. Within the family, they speak both Russian and Kazakh. Alihan is Uyghur; within his family, they speak Uyghur, but he also knows Russian and Kazakh.
“Russian is useful; it’s an international language. One can speak it in quite some Central Asian countries as well as Russia itself. Actually, Russian here is a bit different; we have slightly different slang, maybe, and pronunciation. But, usually, people don’t have problems with Russians here; if there were protests, then for sure, in the south of the country; in the north, we are less hot-tempered.
Unfortunately, only in Astana and Almaty can one do something, meaning work and studying opportunities. Almaty is considered a party city, and Astana is for business. So we are here; staying in our hometowns provides much less freedom for the future.”
Russian is not a national language in Kazakhstan, although most of the country speaks it, and in some regions, it is dominant. However, in some areas, locals don’t know Russian at all. In recent years, the government started to popularise the Kazakh language, and more and more people prefer it nowadays.
Nargiz was born in Akkol (north Kazakhstan) and moved to Astana to study. Her family is Kazakh but Russian speaking. She just started to properly learn Kazakh; sometimes, she can understand but cannot answer.
“And, of course, I have problems with this daily. As I said, they try to make the population speak more Kazakh, and it’s good. But I have spoken Russian since childhood; how can I suddenly start speaking Kazakh? People might ask me, why I speak Russian when I look Kazakh, in taxis, buses, or shops. I get a lot of judgmental looks. Meanwhile, Russians are not getting this negative attitude; it’s more about Kazakh people who do not speak Kazakh. We understand these are foreigners and try to help.
I don’t have anything against Russians fleeing from the war. We live in hard times, and these people seek safety. I grew up in a city with a lot of Russians. I can’t say the amount increased that much. Many of those who have lived here for a while know the basics of Kazakh; I don’t know about the new ones. I haven’t met anyone who is against recent immigrants, but I saw something online. Also, some (mainly older people) think Russians assume Kazakhstan is a Russian colony, so they came to take it back. Of course, some have a negative opinion about all of this.”
Ayajan was born in Semey and came to Astana to study. Many people of her generation left Simey despite the city having good universities. It was a student city in the past; now people want to go to places with more opportunities.
“Some even went to Russia just because they wanted to leave. I don’t understand their logic actually, when Russians are trying to leave Russia. I am neutral about the current situation and the inflow of Russian immigrants. But I am also not a Kazakh patriot. I also would like to get out of this country one day. Although, there are some people who have a negative opinion about this.
Some Russians believe Kazakhstan is basically a part of Russia. This opinion might be caused by the fact that Kazakhstan was the last to separate after the fall of the Soviet Union. So, of course, it’s not good to come to the country with such thoughts, you are a guest here. This creates prejudice among locals that everyone who comes is like this. There is nothing bad about immigrants coming if they do not overuse our hospitality, and we are a very welcoming nation. For example, once, my parents invited a stranger from the street for a cup of tea. I am coming home, asking who he is, and nobody knows, but everyone seems to have a good time.
My grandparents have russian names. They came from Altai, but everyone says I am Kazakh even though my appearance is not very local: light hair color and green eyes. Within the family, we speak Russian, but we all know Kazakh (but only the spoken language, not literature). Sometimes my father tries to talk in Kazakh during dinner but it usually doesn’t work”.
“If you look Kazakh but speak Russian, you can get mean comments in public places, especially from elderly people. This attitude (you should know Kazakh from birth if you are Kazakh) makes it hard for those who try to learn the language now, having grown up speaking only Russian. Culture and religion also play a role here; for example, we should respect the elders, and sometimes it gets ridiculous. If an old lady in the tram says something to you, even if it’s offensive and makes no sense, you can’t do anything but stay silent and leave at the next station. By the way, Kazakhstan is a secular country, although the majority of Kazakhstan’s citizens, primarily ethnic Kazakhs, identify as Sunni Muslims. However, it’s okay to wear any clothes one wants, and there is freedom of choice in religion. But society may not accept some things. Also, your degree of freedom depends on the family. Mine understands me, I am not a Muslim, but some people may have problems. For example, I don’t particularly appreciate when parents make even babies pray; they don’t understand what they are doing at this age”.