How Russia’s youth see their lives and future
STORY: (Ivan Sokolov, Data analyst) “My plan to find a job abroad failed. I quit my job here.”
(Sabina) “I was in tears every time when someone I knew was leaving Russia, as it seemed that we would never see each other again.”
Reuters interviewed four young Russians living in Moscow.
They told us about how their lives have changed since the start of what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
All four were born around the turn of the millennium, when President Vladimir Putin ascended to power, and have known no other Russia than the one he controls.
23-year-old Sabina spoke of her upended plans to study abroad.
“Before 2022, I had thoughts that I could go somewhere to study, enroll in one of the universities abroad. I wanted to go university in Finland but kept putting it off, although I wanted it so much.”
“Now it seems that I should not go anywhere. Not without my family, at least. Because, okay, I might go away, but who knows what might happen next. Something might happen to them if they don’t leave the country with me.”
Maxim Lukyanenko is a student from Krasnodar.
The 20-year-old is also the founder of ‘White Raven’, a patriotic, pro-military organization.
“Our focus is shifting from the West to the East. I think that the future is in the East. A lot of interesting things will come from the East. I see my future in building bridges between Russia and the East.”
“I plan to study a master’s course in China. I’d like to learn something interesting. I think they are very interesting people, an interesting nation. In general, Russia does need to strengthen ties with China. They are top lads, we need to learn something from them. And to teach them something of course.”
23-year-old Konstantin Konkov was elected as an independent candidate to Moscow’s municipal council last year.
“Since February last year, a lot of people I know, activists and others, have left Russia. It does have an impact on our campaigns and the quality of horizontal communication. Just think about it: the most active people, people who do care about what’s going on in the country, have been ripped out of the country. Very few have stayed. In this situation, it makes carrying out any campaigns, public or political, very difficult. But we carry on.”
Others spoke of jobs upended and fear of an unknown and unpredictable future.
One common sentiment – there isn’t much they can do to influence Russia’s direction.
25-year-old Ivan Sokolov briefly left the country for Kazakhstan when the partial mobilization was announced in September 2022.
He has since returned and now works as a data analyst.
“My friends are here, my family is here. I was born and grew up in this country. I can’t change or fix everything in the country, so I’m forced to come to terms with it, get used to it and live on.”
