In a comment on my recent article “Feedback from My Contacts in Russia,” which also was cross-posted at Medium.com, writer Dan Kadlec told me in response to my mention of the thousands of Russians who’d been hurt by the closing of western businesses in their home country: “I have been meeting some of these folks in Dubai.” Below are some excerpts from his article. – Natylie

By Dan Kadlec, Medium.com, 3/19/21

….Much is written about where Russian oligarchs are parking their superyachts and Gulfstream jets under threat of sanctions from the west. Dubai is one of those places. With a lot of Russian money, the yacht-building industry here has doubled the past eight years, and in recent weeks yacht traffic between Bluewaters and Palm Jumeirah in Dubai Harbor has felt like the Long Island Expressway at rush hour. Clashing wakes from floating 250-foot behemoths toss novice jet skiers like dinghies in a hurricane.

But ordinary Russians are on the move too. The families and the reuniting couple I saw were not oligarchs — and they were not on vacation. They were among the estimated 200,000 working-class folks who fled to Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Much of the UAE flow has been into Dubai. Demand has been so strong that one-way coach air fare from Moscow has risen five-fold to $1,800.

I continue to encounter Russian emigres and speak to them when it feels appropriate. In the elevator, I commented on a small poodle that a middle-aged man was about to take for a walk. I’m big on elevator convos; I enjoy interacting with strangers and have largely perfected the timing and how to graciously butt into someone’s life. But this man was in no mood. He mumbled something in Russian without making eye contact. I knew that my gregariousness had failed and that his mind was heavy and far away.

“Oh yeah,” a little voice in my head said. “Not everyone here is on a holiday.”

….The Russian refugees I have encountered are still in shock and largely reluctant to share details. In my limited sampling, their livelihoods had been tied to western companies with offices in Moscow that shut down with little warning. The lucky ones were given 48 hours to accept a ticket out, leaving almost everything they owned behind. Some hope to return one day.

Dimitri, a young man, left his mother and father behind. With no time to think the matter through, he hopped the next flight believing this nightmare would pass soon enough and he could go back to them. Yet hundreds of international companies are preparing for permanent shutdown. At last count, 159 western companies had made a clean break from Russia while 182 had suspended all operations and may never resume.

When might Dimitri go home? Possibly never.

Alina and Ivan have two young children. But they only had a passport for one, so the other child stayed behind with grandparents. They didn’t know what else to do and had no time to consider their options. Their days are now consumed with searching for a path to reunite the family — whatever it takes. These are heartbreaking stories to hear first-hand…

Read full article here.