Hundreds of thousands of Russian men have fled the country in the past two weeks and Western leaders are issuing increasingly ominous warnings about the potential for a nuclear strike—but some foreign tourists have bafflingly decided now is the perfect time to vacation there.
“Hey guys! I got a visa to Russia and I really want to explore Moscow because I might move here. However, I only know a couple people who live there and they’re mostly busy. So would anyone like to show me around and be my makeshift tour guide?” one young woman wrote recently in a Facebook group for expats in Moscow.
“I want the full Russian experience (in a good, relatively safe, way),” she wrote—promptly sending most members of the group into a collective meltdown.
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The woman, who The Daily Beast is not naming to respect her privacy, later clarified in comments to this reporter that she knew her scheduled vacation had “unfortunate” timing but said she’d poured so much money into obtaining a visa she was determined to visit anyway.
“It’s a ‘let’s see what happens’ kinda thing,” she wrote.
She’s certainly not alone. While Russian social media groups catering to foreigners have largely transformed in recent months from forums teeming with information about upcoming nightclub events into a sounding board for urgent questions about pet relocation services, interrogations at the border, and escape plans—those more sobering posts are often interspersed with queries that appear to expose a major disconnect.
“Can’t imagine a better time to visit Russia, hope it goes well for you,” one commentator wrote in response to the post from the woman described above.
“There was a lot less people on the subway today as well. Where has everyone gone?” one commentator wrote in a popular Telegram channel for expats in response to a photo of an eerily empty Moscow.
Tour operators apparently eager for business amid a downturn frequently post photos of scenes far removed from the war—the Russky Bridge in Vladivostok, “remote destinations” like Altai—while peppering their posts with more stark reminders about the reality of the war.
“Currently, international credit cards (Visa, Master Card, American Express) issued outside Russia cannot be used to purchase goods and services in Russia. Russian airlines and hotels are now inaccessible through major internet booking engines,” wrote one U.K.-based tour operator, Go Russia, which shared a Ukrainian flag on its page in a gesture of solidarity after Putin’s full-scale invasion.
People walk on Nikolskaya Street outside Red Square in central Moscow on Sept. 28, 2022.
Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via GettyThe company’s once-upbeat posts appeared to hint at a sense of quiet surrender as the war dragged on, often opening with a reminder that “it is still possible to travel in Russia.”
“Tourists are welcome right now???,” one apparently baffled English woman wrote in response.
Other wannabe-visitors suggested their desire to visit the country only intensified after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine took front and center on the global stage.
“Curious to what Americans [sic] experiences have been living in Russia since the ‘special military option’, or traveling there. Western media is hysterical so I just wanted to check in with people who are grounded and connected to reality lol… If I tell anyone here in California I plan on visiting Russia they ask me if I want to die LOL. As if Americans are being held in concentration camps and subjected to public executions,” wrote one American man who later inquired about how to obtain a visa.
Some expats also apparently plan to relocate to the country in search of careers.
“In light of the recent sanctions, is it still possible to obtain an IT job in Russia as an expat?,” one man wrote in a Telegram channel for foreigners in Russia, inquiring about one of the Russian sectors hit hardest by fallout from the war.
People look at thick black smoke rising from a fire on the Kerch bridge that links Crimea to Russia, after a truck exploded near Kerch on Oct. 8, 2022.
Roman Dmitriyev/AFP via GettyThe query led to an animated discussion about cybersecurity expats in Russia—and then to Edward Snowden, whom one foreign commentator cited as a major success story, as a foreigner who has “assimilated” well and now “enjoys his new life.”
For many frequenting the expat-oriented channels, the fallout from the war appeared to hit closest to home immediately after Vladimir Putin announced his mobilization order, with frantic posts from foreigners who’ve married Russian men now facing the prospect of death on the battlefield.
Even then, however, the responses they got were a mixed bag of alarm and nonchalantism.
“Mobilization is only for people who have served before and not for new recruits,” one expat reassured, insisting Russian defense officials will stick to their word.
“It's official and a kind reminder to you, People who gain Russian citizenship are drafted to war even if they don't have any military experience (a friend of mine is in this situation),” one Finnish expat wrote.
Others floated volunteering in the war as a way to curry favor with the Russian government and resolve their own residency woes.
“Those who are willing to join the Russian army for 1 year will be able to get citizenship faster,” one commentator noted in a thread about the possibility of foreigners getting drafted.
Police officers detain a protester during an unsanctioned rally hosted by the Vesna Movement in protest against the military invasion on Ukraine and partial mobilization on Sept. 24, 2022, in Moscow.
Getty(The suggestion was echoed by a company specializing in relocation services for those hoping to move to Russia, though they declined to comment for this story.)
Marcus Hudson of Let’s Russia, a company that specializes in providing visas for foreigners hoping to visit the country, told The Daily Beast there has definitely been “more apprehension” among prospective travelers after the mobilization order.
“When the mobilization hit, that’s when people started asking about safety, for sure. Before that, … nobody asked about safety,” he said, adding that he had not hesitated in advising some travelers to postpone their trips. Many others requested refunds after the mobilization announcement, he said.
The majority of those now seeking visas are those with family and friends inside Russia, or other connections that require them to visit.
Hudson says he has been candid with other prospective travelers, telling them, “As a foreigner, you should be relatively safe, but I can’t guarantee that at this point.”
There are “a few” who still express a desire to visit despite the alarming news coverage about what’s happening there, he said.
“The foreigners are believing what’s being reported officially, but there’s a disconnect. I don’t think some of the foreigners looking to go to Russia, especially if they have no connection to Russia, they understand that disconnect,” he said. “They don’t even know it exists and is possible… ‘Wait the government said one thing and did another?’”
Even the most “diehard” expats who’d been “very comfortable [in Russia] until this” saw the mobilization order as a “dealbreaker,” he said.
“I honestly told people, ‘You know what, with this last announcement you might want to wait. Because you don’t know [what’s going to happen].”
“Very, very few people who have no connections [to Russia] are applying for visas,” since Putin’s call-up, he said.
The “volume of visas is so low” that a meeting between representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry and travel companies last month was attended by only three companies, he said, compared to about 15 companies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The majority of those frequenting channels for expats seemed well aware of Putin’s full-fledged war and its myriad ramifications, but some offered what could only be described as cringe-worthy takes.
“We all lose are [sic] path in life sometimes but it's never to late to try again. I urge people to contact Vladimir Putin on the Russian government site and tell him how you fill about the war but be polite and be respectful. stopping the war doesn't mean your weak it means your strong to admit you made a mistake. I believe Vladimir Putin will do the right thing because he loves his country and he loves his people,” one man wrote in a group geared towards dating and networking in Moscow.
The message was accompanied by a photo of Red Square lit up by a rainbow.
