The young Russians who fled their country for neighboring Kazakhstan to avoid being conscripted to fight in Ukraine all want to go home one day. They just don’t know when that will be.
“I feel very sad, because, actually, I love Russia,” a 25-year-old Muscovite told NBC News in the biggest city in Kazakhstan, Almaty, a prime destination for Russians avoiding conscription. “Maybe I stay here two or three months. I don’t know.”
Like the other wary exiles NBC News spoke with, the young Muscovite asked not to be identified by name because he fears the consequences of defying President Vladimir Putin’s order to report for duty.
The young man, who was a juggler and a street performer before he left three weeks ago, said he already feels homesick for Mother Russia.
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