Review

Paul Starobin was formerly a Moscow bureau chief for Businessweek. In Putin's Exiles, he tracked down and spoke with Putin exiles in France, Germany, Britain, Switzerland, Cyprus, and the United States, as well as those who went for easier-to-reach former Soviet Republics like Armenia and Georgia, and the "Stans" in Central Asia. He notes that he had many in-person as well as Zoom conversations, interested especially in exiles active in political opposition to the Putin regime but also sought an understanding of the exile experience and mindset. Most of those with whom he spoke had fled Russia after Putin invaded Ukraine in February of 2022. Over 1,000,000 had left Russia after that attack. Others, who had left earlier had been pressured by Putin's security service. Starobin said that the picture that emerged from his conversations was, on the whole, "one of vibrancy and defiance. We owe this to the world--to fix Russia," said the widely respected economist Sergei Gurlev, an exile now living in Paris. The author lays out the dynamic and varied character of the anti-Putin, anti-war exile movement. Some of them actively aided Ukraine, the blood of Ukrainians hit their conscience, and others mentioned the shame of the Russian national family. He notes that "Putin's rule began with a mildly autocratic coloration and has steadily become more repressive, with a decided shift in this direction upon the launching of the Ukraine invasion. The final chapter of this book is titled Waiting for Navalny. This book was published before Alexei Navalny's death (murder?) in a Russian prison on February 16, 2024. He was Russia's most well-known opposition leader and Putin's most important exile. Seven months into the war in Ukraine, the Washington Post, ran an op-ed piece under Navalny's name that included the following: "The future model for Russia is not 'strong power' and a 'firm hand,' but harmony, agreement, and consideration of the interests of the whole society. Russia needs a parliamentary republic. That is the only way to stop the endless cycle of imperial authoritarianism."

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