‘In Russia, there’s just emptiness’: An interview with a Putin draft dodger

Thousands of Russians are fleeing from Putin’s forced mobilisation. To escape from a call-up – and probable death sentence – on the frontlines of Ukraine, men and women are leaving behind their friends, families and possessions. They must dodge patrols and mobile check points at the borders to catch those trying to evade the call up. The lucky ones make it out. But even once these people have escaped Putin’s clutches, the terror and fear endures.

I met one of these men, Maxim, in a bar in Tbilisi, Georgia. He and his wife had just fled from Russia, after Putin’s ‘partial mobilisation’ order of 21 September. Though it is now well into October, Maxim still seemed agitated from the trauma of the past few weeks. But he was open and forthcoming and readily agreed to be interviewed about his recent experience, provided I changed his name, which I have done here.

I started by asking Maxim, who is 36, what his life had been like before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.