The issue of Ukrainian citizens who had to leave their homes and flee abroad from the war is an important and, unfortunately, hot topic. Most people are interested in it. Friends have also encouraged me to write more about it.
I had decided to show the less highlighted sides of the story, so this time I will write about Ukrainian citizens of Russian nationality who fled abroad from the war. This time, I will try not to make any strict allegations, but rather pose questions that I find relevant.
My basic question is the following: who are these people considered to be abroad — subjects to support or persecution? Friends or enemies? Are they brave enough to tell other people that they are ethnic Russians? Do they dare to speak Russian on the street? If they do so, would they compromise or endanger themselves with it and would their children become outcastes in their new schools?
The second main element in my little chain of questions is the following: which expats’ organization will they join in their new country — Ukrainian or Russian?
One thing is sure, namely that they will certainly have problems with preserving their native language, as it is unsafe to speak Russian on the streets of Europe these days. Furthermore, in most European countries, Russian television channels had become unavailable, instead Ukrainian-language broadcasts are provided, which are full of war propaganda of the Kiev regime. This, however, is something that Russian-speaking TV spectators very politely, but refuse to watch and listen.
It seems that while in the early stages of the war it was Russian President Putin and his closest confidants alone, who were punished by the West, this trend soon turned into a collective hatred of Russians, a general Russophobia, which hits hard not only the citizens of Russia but each and every Russian-speaking person, all around Europe, independently from his or her citizenship.
Despite the centuries-old European-Russian relations, there are hardly any member states left in the European Union that would seek to maintain relations with Russia on a pragmatic basis, and would not want to completely eliminate them. It is sure that even if Putin’s insane war in Ukraine leads to distancing between Europe and Russia, relations will be restored sooner or later. Not necessarily immediately and not in all fields, and at all levels, but it will be so — I am convinced that this is in the interest of both sides.
The war in Ukraine may go on for years, as a result of which Ukrainian citizens, both Russian-speaking ones and ethnic Ukrainians, who fled the war abroad will not want to return home until they are safe in their former homes. This long period abroad is likely to be enough for many of them to integrate into the society of that certain European country that they had chosen as a new home. In a few years they may even become citizens of the respective countries.
And here comes my third main question: what will happen when millions of people with multiple citizenships want to return to Ukraine when the war is over? Will the political leadership of Ukraine be able to cope with this situation? Are the appropriate scenarios already being prepared? And will it be the same persons in office who earlier identified Ukrainians having multiple citizenship of Russia, Israel or even Romania as a threat to national security?
A substantial change in the political elite would be essential if we want to build a new and democratic Ukraine.
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