https://sputniknews.in/20250924/rediscovering-russia-shedding-illusions-immigrants-true-stories-9816317.html
Rediscovering Russia, Shedding Illusions: Immigrant's True Stories
Rediscovering Russia, Shedding Illusions: Immigrant's True Stories
Sputnik India
Yet another famous case of an American getting Russian citizenship is closed. Former assistant to former US President Joe Biden Tara Reid has just received... 24.09.2025, Sputnik India
2025-09-24T17:34+0530
2025-09-24T17:34+0530
2025-09-24T17:34+0530
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That case was, and is, political through and through. In 2020, during the US election campaign, she accused Mr. Biden of harassment allegedly committed in the 1990s. Then, fearing persecution, Tara moved to Russia in 2023, began to learn the language and to seek a Russian passport. And, what’s important, she really loves staying here, like several thousand of other Americans and Europeans who, in the last couple of years, not just came in to stay, but have got themselves a new citizenship.But that, again, is about politics and ideologies. How about an absolutely unpolitical Italian who was a guest speaker of my club this Monday? His story is not even about Russia. It’s about getting out of the West simply because Russia lives now in another age, way above the lands it used to envy.Marco (not his real name), a youngster from Italian South, went to a beach in Cyprus 14 years ago, met a Russian girl there and fell in love. Then they visited each other, for several months, and then Marco finally moved to Russia for good, getting himself a job in a Moscow office of a Middle Eastern corporation selling medical supplies, and became a father of two. And, no, he is not interested in politics or ideology, he keeps his Italian citizenship. His only problem is, Italy and Europe in general are going to dogs, so his life in Moscow seems to be a lucky choice.In fact, we, in the club, were not really talking about Marco’s experience in Russia, since that was not a problem for him. He mildly dislikes some traits of the Russian nation: too many people are rushing to riches, wanting to make big and fast money (Italians are not like that, he thinks). Or, a family in Russia is something small and separate, while in Italy a family, as a clan of dozens of people, is paramount.But, what’s most important, Marco says that the Russia he encountered 14 years ago and the one he is seeing now are two very different nations, since the country has moved up to new heights. Let’s put the mark here, and move on.To repeat, we in the club have mostly talked about Italy, comparing it to what it was 14 years ago. Italy has moved down, says Marco. Faces are set, smiles are too few, and there is too little of money around. The rich are still the rich, the poor are where they were before, but the middle class is getting almost invisible, slowly seeping down to where the poor are. The biggest problem is oil and gas, getting horribly expensive after severing most of Europe’s ties with Russia. And, of course, the huge crowds of migrants in the bigger cities are making life grim and dangerous. Same thing happens all over Europe.Now, where have I noted a similar story only a couple of days ago? And here it is, on the Tsargrad website. Only thing, this is a reverse story, not the one of a foreigner upgrading himself by moving to Russia. It’s a story of a Russian boy who, at the age of 15, followed his parents, who emigrated to America. And now he is 22, back to Russia for a visit, marveling at the land he in fact has never seen properly.Not that Valery Ulianov has ever been encountering tribulations of a foreigner trying to extricate himself from a slum. His family lives not just in Los Angeles, but in Beverly Hills, for God’s sake: you cannot get anywhere higher in the US.His impressions were so strong that Valery decided to stay in Russia for a while, and then for a couple more months. Comparing nations, he has several points of difference to note. First is the smell. America, for him, smells of old age and urine – when he walks along the streets. Second is absence of hordes of bums and drug addicts anywhere in Russia, so that one can walk the streets at any time of day or night. Third is medical service, which is several times cheaper than in the US, but adequate enough. Fourth is the subway, which is usually an underground palace in Russia and a horrid den in the US. Finally, there are sports facilities, which are, in his opinion, underequipped and overpriced in the US, compared to Russia.All right, that’s Moscow. And then the young man went to a couple of small provincial cities, and there his surprise grew and grew.You may not be able to translate Valery’s blog, but he is also making photos https://dzen.ru/a/aNC8TuTT_0GhZAaR to compare the two nations, and they say it all.So what do we have here, when ex-foreigners and ex-locals say almost the same thing: Russia and Europe/US are now living in two different worlds. We have probably renewed that old and unpleasant way of numerating them – the First World (where Russia is), the Second, not to mention the Third World.That’s a relatively new global phenomenon, with very few statistics to illustrate it. Money is a relative thing, you see, and it’s hard to determine exactly how much of real things you get here and there for an equivalent of 100 euros or dollars in any corner of the world. Then there are things like indices of happiness. Then, also, there are so-called comfort surveys about living in various cities or villages of the world.And that’s how you try to put proper figures to something that, actually, anyone can simply see and feel while moving from one world to another.Will there be a clash of the worlds, one raising, one declining, on even a bigger scale than we see now? Can we say that the current unbelievable European hatred to Russia has primarily been caused by the obvious fact, namely that Russia has overtaken Europe (and the US) in lifestyles? That’s hardly likely, at least because an average Westerner stays mentally in the previous era, when Russia was supposed to be poor and backward. You need personal encounter to shed these illusions, and encounters are few, since the West is busy erecting another Iron Curtain around Russia and blocking information from it.If you really need figures to prop up your conclusions, then how about comparing the standing of the world’s 20 biggest economies. One may safely say that G20 is the only (barely) functioning diplomatic machinery in the world. And that machinery is in total stalemate, maybe because ten nations of twenty are “the West”, while ten are “the Rest”. But that’s when you count heads, how about other figures, showing that BRICS nations produce 40 per cent of global GNP, while the Western club of top 7 nations accounts for only 29 per cent.So what do we get from all these figures? Not much. While the numerous admissions that Russia has moved up to another world say a lot, about Russia itself or about the shape of the world to come.Dmitry Kosyrev is a Russian writer, author of spy novels and short stories. He also did columns for the Pioneer and Firstpost.com
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Rediscovering Russia, Shedding Illusions: Immigrant's True Stories
Yet another famous case of an American getting Russian citizenship is closed. Former assistant to former US President Joe Biden Tara Reid has just received Russian citizenship. The corresponding decree was signed, this week, by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
That case was, and is, political through and through. In 2020, during the US election campaign, she accused Mr. Biden of harassment allegedly committed in the 1990s. Then, fearing persecution, Tara moved to Russia in 2023, began to learn the language and to seek a Russian passport. And, what’s important, she really loves staying here, like several thousand of other Americans and Europeans who, in the last couple of years, not just came in to stay, but have got themselves a new citizenship.
But that, again, is about politics and ideologies. How about an absolutely unpolitical Italian who was a guest speaker of my club this Monday? His story is not even about Russia. It’s about getting out of the West simply because Russia lives now in another age, way above the lands it used to envy.
Marco (not his real name), a youngster from Italian South, went to a beach in Cyprus 14 years ago, met a Russian girl there and fell in love. Then they visited each other, for several months, and then Marco finally moved to Russia for good, getting himself a job in a Moscow office of a Middle Eastern corporation selling medical supplies, and became a father of two. And, no, he is not interested in politics or ideology, he keeps his Italian citizenship. His only problem is, Italy and Europe in general are going to dogs, so his life in Moscow seems to be a lucky choice.
In fact, we, in the club, were not really talking about Marco’s experience in Russia, since that was not a problem for him. He mildly dislikes some traits of the Russian nation: too many people are rushing to riches, wanting to make big and fast money (Italians are not like that, he thinks). Or, a family in Russia is something small and separate, while in Italy a family, as a clan of dozens of people, is paramount.
But, what’s most important, Marco says that the Russia he encountered 14 years ago and the one he is seeing now are two very different nations, since the country has moved up to new heights. Let’s put the mark here, and move on.
To repeat, we in the club have mostly talked about Italy, comparing it to what it was 14 years ago. Italy has moved down, says Marco. Faces are set, smiles are too few, and there is too little of money around. The rich are still the rich, the poor are where they were before, but the middle class is getting almost invisible, slowly seeping down to where the poor are. The biggest problem is oil and gas, getting horribly expensive after severing most of Europe’s ties with Russia. And, of course, the huge crowds of migrants in the bigger cities are making life grim and dangerous. Same thing happens all over Europe.
Now, where have I noted a similar story only a couple of days ago? And here it is, on the Tsargrad website. Only thing, this is a reverse story, not the one of a foreigner upgrading himself by moving to Russia. It’s a story of a Russian boy who, at the age of 15, followed his parents, who emigrated to America. And now he is 22, back to Russia for a visit, marveling at the land he in fact has never seen properly.
Not that Valery Ulianov has ever been encountering tribulations of a foreigner trying to extricate himself from a slum. His family lives not just in Los Angeles, but in Beverly Hills, for God’s sake: you cannot get anywhere higher in the US.
His impressions were so strong that Valery decided to stay in Russia for a while, and then for a couple more months. Comparing nations, he has several points of difference to note. First is the smell. America, for him, smells of old age and urine – when he walks along the streets. Second is absence of hordes of bums and drug addicts anywhere in Russia, so that one can walk the streets at any time of day or night. Third is medical service, which is several times cheaper than in the US, but adequate enough. Fourth is the subway, which is usually an underground palace in Russia and a horrid den in the US. Finally, there are sports facilities, which are, in his opinion, underequipped and overpriced in the US, compared to Russia.
All right, that’s Moscow. And then the young man went to a couple of small provincial cities, and there his surprise grew and grew.
You may not be able to translate Valery’s blog, but he is also
making photos https://dzen.ru/a/aNC8TuTT_0GhZAaR to compare the two nations, and they say it all.
So what do we have here, when ex-foreigners and ex-locals say almost the same thing: Russia and Europe/US are now living in two different worlds. We have probably renewed that old and unpleasant way of numerating them – the First World (where Russia is), the Second, not to mention the Third World.
That’s a relatively new global phenomenon, with very few statistics to illustrate it. Money is a relative thing, you see, and it’s hard to determine exactly how much of real things you get here and there for an equivalent of 100 euros or dollars in any corner of the world. Then there are things like indices of happiness. Then, also, there are so-called comfort surveys about living in various cities or villages of the world.
And that’s how you try to put proper figures to something that, actually, anyone can simply see and feel while moving from one world to another.
Will there be a clash of the worlds, one raising, one declining, on even a bigger scale than we see now? Can we say that the current unbelievable European hatred to Russia has primarily been caused by the obvious fact, namely that Russia has overtaken Europe (and the US) in lifestyles? That’s hardly likely, at least because an average Westerner stays mentally in the previous era, when Russia was supposed to be poor and backward. You need personal encounter to shed these illusions, and encounters are few, since the West is busy erecting another Iron Curtain around Russia and blocking information from it.
If you really need figures to prop up your conclusions, then how about comparing the standing of the world’s 20 biggest economies. One may safely say that G20 is the only (barely) functioning diplomatic machinery in the world. And that machinery is in total stalemate, maybe because ten nations of twenty are “the West”, while ten are “the Rest”. But that’s when you count heads, how about other figures, showing that BRICS nations produce 40 per cent of global GNP, while the Western club of top 7 nations accounts for only 29 per cent.
So what do we get from all these figures? Not much. While the numerous admissions that Russia has moved up to another world say a lot, about Russia itself or about the shape of the world to come.
Dmitry Kosyrev is a Russian writer, author of spy novels and short stories. He also did columns for the Pioneer and Firstpost.com
