As sanctions take hold, Anastasia is concerned a lack of flights to the West will impact her career plans. She says she always dreamed of teaching Russian in Europe or Britain, but now doubts this will be possible in the near future.
Earlier this month Russian flag carrier Aeroflot stopped all international flights, except to Belarus, while many foreign carriers from the US, EU and UK have also ceased operations.
“I want to go [abroad] of my own volition, I don’t want to run away from Russia and I don’t want to look like a Russian refugee,” Anastasia says. “You won’t be able to travel and people in Europe and Americans and other countries just hate us because we are Russians, it’s really scary.”
Some routes do remain intact. Tim Clark, president of Emirates, one of the few airlines to maintain its services, said earlier this week that Russians had “every right” to continue travel abroad despite the conflict in Ukraine. Emirates’ fares have, however, gone up in price amid surging fuel costs.
The Kremlin has tried to placate fears, maintaining sanctions are just as harmful for the West as they are for Russia – implying future economic prospects may not be so dire.
“A few weeks after the introduction of ‘hellish’ sanctions against Russia it has turned out, as expected, that they return to the West like a boomerang,” former president Dmitry Medvedev said on his official Telegram channel on Wednesday.
“It is also obvious that the sanctions themselves are not yet achieving the results that Western politicians managed to shout about with their voices weakening from the strain.”
Anastasia is confident the current crisis will be only temporary: “I’ve been told that we are going to be fine and the European people will suffer too because of these sanctions and because of gas.
“We don’t have fancy stuff anymore, we can’t go to H&M and buy their clothes, but I’m going to be fine with that. It’s not going to be forever. I think people will find a way somehow or sanctions will be cancelled.”
But others are not convinced. “I think this is all just terrible. I can’t believe this is all happening. It’s totally surreal,” says Katya of Russia’s battered economy.
“Society is restless, we are always worrying, constant psychological pressure and uncertainty about the future frightens us.”
*Names have been changed to protect their identity.
