Many of the would-be migrants are attracted by Russia’s Shared Values visa, sometimes called the “anti-woke” visa (…)

Introduced by President Vladimir Putin in 2024, the visa offers temporary residency for up to three years to citizens of 47 countries Russia considers “unfriendly”.

There is no limit to the number of people who can apply and applicants do not need to pass the usual Russian language, history or law tests.

Instead, they must declare that they share Russia’s traditional spiritual and moral values and reject what the Russian government describes as the “destructive neoliberal ideology” of their home countries.

Imagine no alarm bells going off as you read that 🤦

Also, the USA is one of those 47 countries! Remember that the next time Trump boasts about his good relations with Russia and/or Putin being his buddy.

The whole article - Leo’s story - is worth the read.

Following their move to Russia, Leo’s family became one of the most visible examples of Western migration.

Russian state media filmed their asylum ceremony and Leo publicly thanked President Putin for welcoming them. At the time, Leo believed he was helping to pioneer what he calls “an unprecedented piece of immigration legislation”.

But the reality proved more difficult than he’d anticipated.

Within weeks of arriving, Leo says they were defrauded of 5 million roubles – about £52,000 ($66,000) – by a contact they trusted, leaving them homeless.

When I spoke to Leo earlier this year, he was living separately from his wife in the city of Ivanovo, and his older children had returned to the United States.

Asked whether Russia had lived up to his expectations, Leo describes the last two years as the best and worst of his life.

Something in the article reminded me of the Anastasia movement, one of those esoteric cults you need to look a little closer at to see the fascism.