Post Soviet Journal | Belgrade, Serbia | Sep 2022
The Conscript: Russians of Belgrade
All names have been changed.
Since the war in Ukraine, the Russian government issued a mobilisation for all men aged 18-30, meaning they could be called up at any time and sent to the frontline. In response to this many men fled Russia, going to former republics of the Soviet Union that allowed Russians to enter without a visa. These included countries such as Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. The following accounts are from Russian men who had fled and settled in hostels around Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia. Some 100,000 men went to Serbia after the mobilisation was issued. Although Serbia is not a former Soviet republic, it maintains friendly relations with Russia.
West Gate, Belgrade.
Andrei 29
Right near the west gate of New Belgrade on the western part of the city, Andrei sits on the balcony of an old apartment turned into a hostel, wearing a t-shirt with the Wagner logo on the front. He has spent most the morning on his laptop and smoking cigarettes. Andrei is from Maykop, a town near Krasnodar, not far from the Ukrainian border and Crimea. He worked in a car rental place in customer service before he fled Russia.
“What are your thoughts of the war in Ukraine?”
“It is the west who caused this war not us” was Andrei’s immediate response. “The west has been pushing this for years, NATO was not meant to go past Germany”. He is referring to the end of the cold war with German reunification. “Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, this was all part of Russia [USSR] and now they are in NATO on our border. This is a threat”. He goes onto tell me if this one the other way around with the USA invading a country, then nobody would care, or sanction it. “This is a war against Russia by NATO” Andrei adds.
“Why did Putin invade Ukraine?”
Andrei thought about this question before answering the question. “He launched Special Military Operation (What the Kremlin calls the war in Ukraine) to defend Russia. “If he didn’t then the Ukraine Nazis (reciprocating Kremlin propaganda) will join NATO, then when will they invade Russia?”. He pauses as he waits for an answer to that question. Andrei goes on “And there are many Russians in Ukraine, why should we leave them? They are our people we must help them”. He clenches his fist, raises it and says “Putin!”.
“Why did you come to Belgrade?”
“I like this city, and look at me, I cannot go fight” (Talking about his large weight/lack of health). He also says his mother wanted him to go, she had given him some money to help him out whilst he was there. “I have done my military service when I was 20, I cannot go and do this again. I come to Belgrade because this city is nice, it is hot, and I like this. Serbs are our brother nation. They are always there for Russia so I will come here”. He tells me how he admires Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia. “He only cares for Serb; he does not care for taking sides. I like him, more presidents should be like him”.
East Gate, Belgrade.
Lev, 24
Lev was also from a similar part of Russia, Volgodonsk, also close to the border with eastern Ukraine. He had met Andrei in the hostel as they came there at a similar time around a month ago. He came out onto the balcony when he heard Andrei was talking. Lev had just finished studying in Volgograd, he had studies natural sciences and was interested in going into the oil business. He had only been working in a small shop in the meantime whilst he was trying to find a job. Him and Andrei seemed to get along well, sharing cigarettes and laughing, but they disagreed on the issue of the war.
“What are your thoughts of the war in Ukraine?”
He let out a sigh before answering. “I do not like war, it is not necessary. Both sides are getting killed too much. It is useless waste of life”. Asking about the Ukraine government, he explains how he does not think that Ukraine should join NATO, and that they should remain separate as their ‘own country’. “I don’t want more NATO near Russia, but they should solve this in a better way. Maybe a deal or separate Donbas I don’t know. War is not [the] answer though”. Andrei repeatedly smirked and shook his head.
“Why did Putin invade Ukraine?”
“I think Putin is a dictator, he is not stable”. Andrei mutters something in Russia as he rolls another cigarette. “He is getting old, and he wants more power. Maybe he is bored and uses Ukraine as excuse to start a new war so he can be hero in Russia. I know many Russians that would want him dead because this war is not helping”. There is a pause of awkwardness. “Maybe Putin was good 10 years ago for Russia, but today no, he just makes life worse”. Lev starts listing some other Russian politicians that would make good leaders of the country.
“Why did you come to Belgrade?”
“Before war I used to come to Europe, I love travelling here. My favourites were Hungary and Austria. They are so expensive but so beautiful” Lev explains. “But now today it is very hard to get visa for Schengen, and the only country I can come to is Belgrade because they still like Russians, and I like Balkan region also”. He goes onto tell me how he didn’t want to go to the ‘republics’ referring to former republics of the Soviet Union in the Caucuses and Central Asia. He complains however that he is burning through all his savings from the shop he worked at that were meant to help his future such as rent an apartment. “This war has ruined everything because if I go to Russia I will go to army maybe, and getting job in Belgrade is hard because every other Russian wants job, and they prefer Serbs”.
Zepter Tower, West Gate, Belgrade.
Anton, 26
Anton was in a hostel down in the other end of the city. He had just come to Belgrade, he had originally been in an Airbnb in Novi-Sad, a city in the north of Serbia, but had found it too expensive, so came to Belgrade to try and find a job and a cheap hostel. He had still not found a job. Anton was from Tver, a city just north of Moscow. He had studied in Moscow a few years prior, majoring in Business. He had tried to set up a couple of businesses since then, but both had flopped, before fleeing Russia, he worked for an advertisement company trying to bring in new clients and managing social media and was looking for something similar in Belgrade.
“What are your thoughts of the war in Ukraine?”
Ukraine is complicated was his response. “I do not support the war, but there are problems that have been happening for long time. I do not support Ukraine government either”. He thought that both sides are to blame, one side being the West. “Why is the West bombing Serbia for Kosovo (the 1999 bombing of Belgrade in response to the war in Kosovo), and yet Luhansk and Donetsk or Crimea cannot be own country? Why is one ok and not the other, because Kosovo doesn’t want to be Serbia and they don’t want to be Ukraine”. Anton tells me if the west just recognised the independence of these regions and ‘let them decide their fate’ then the war would not have happened. He contradicts his point by telling me that Kosovo should be part of Serbia.
“Why did Putin invade Ukraine?”
“Putin uses the problems in Luhansk and Donetsk to cause a war, he does not care about us (Russians/Russian speakers) there he just needs an excuse to take Kyiv”. I asked him what Putin wants from taking the whole of Ukraine, but Anton didn’t know. He compared the war to that of Georgia in 2008. “Putin did same here, he invaded for Abkhazia and [South] Ossetia, but he wants the whole country not just these regions. Maybe he does this because he can because he knows nobody in Russia will stop him”.
“Why did you come to Belgrade?”
“I came to Belgrade because this is the first city out of Russia I can fly to the quickest”. Anton explains how he found an expensive flight on Air Serbia for Belgrade. “The website was down for many days, everybody was trying to book flights quick, after 1 week maybe I found a flight to Belgrade. I don’t need Visa here, so I come”. He says how he would never fight in the army for a war he refers to as pointless. He thinks his family will send his cousin soon to Belgrade with him as he turns 18 in the winter.