Abstract: This article examines the trajectories and identity transformations of Russian migrants who relocated to Latin America following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Based on original survey data and interviews, it argues that this wave—driven by fear of repression, conscription, and moral opposition to the war—constitutes a form of crisis migration centered on autonomy and ethical refusal. Unlike earlier movements of Russians to the region, this new migration is not guided by ideology or economic opportunity but by the need to escape an authoritarian state and redefine belonging. The article conceptualizes these migrants as "escapees" who reject the political authority of the Russian state while maintaining cultural and linguistic ties that sustain a reimagined sense of Russianness. In Latin America—marked by its neutrality, histories of exile, and openness to newcomers—Russian migrants experiment with hybrid and postnational identities detached from state frameworks yet rooted in language, memory, and civic agency.
Vladimir Rouvinski (Tue,) studied this question.