Marina Aronova is a correspondent for Siberia.Realities, a regional news outlet of RFE/RL's Russian Service.
More than seven months after the first mobilization drive, anxiety is rising over speculation of a second wave and Russians looking to avoid getting caught up in the fight of Ukraine at home – and abroad -- are facing a new set of obstacles.
Cracks are showing in Russian aviation industry as it struggles under the weight of Western sanctions that have sharply curtailed the import of badly needed parts.
More than 400,000 Russians have left their country since Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. They took with them at least $14 billion, a wealth of skills and training, and hundreds of established businesses. And the countries that have taken them in are reporting significant economic benefits.
One of Russia's largest gold companies planned to build a $730 million processing plant in a depressed port in the Far East that could have heralded a mini-investment boom as other projects followed. Sanctions imposed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine have shelved those plans for now.
Tens of thousands of Russians have left the country since Moscow invaded Ukraine a month ago. Many of those doing so have reported unpleasant -- and illegal -- interrogations as they passed through Russian passport control.
Plans are in place for an open-air museum at a Soviet-era labor camp in Kolyma, where thousands of innocent people were killed under dictator Josef Stalin. "Here in Russia, there are very few places where the history of the gulag has not been rewritten or erased," the museum's director said.
