In concordance with The Communicator's aim to minimize harm, the source for this article has been attributed using a pseudonym to protect their identity.
On Feb. 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a “special military operation” into Ukraine, citing his aims as the “demilitarization and denazification” of the neighboring country.
“Imagine you’re studying marine biology and then you get eaten by a whale,” said Vivian Kensington, an American exchange student studying in Moscow. And Kensington has been swallowed whole.
Unlike many other Russian universities—which the Ministry of Education oversees, her school falls under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs jurisdiction. Despite the relevance of the situation to her major, the situation has had little acknowledgment from the university.
“All of the students in our class [actually had to petition] to get classes online,” Kensington said. “I mean, most of them went back to their home countries.” The concession was eventually made, but the situation itself has not been discussed.
“Today I went to class and there were like five people there—in the entire class,” Kensington said. Many of Kensington's classmates have left Russia, returning to their home countries, which has not been a particularly easy feat during the current state of Russian affairs.
“In the middle of [my friend’s] flight, the flight had to turn around,” Kensington said. “They were in the air and they had to turn around and go back to Moscow because Greece shut their borders while she was in the air.” Several countries are closing their airspace to Russian air traffic, and many Russian airports are being closed, making it difficult to obtain flights out of the country.
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow is currently at minimum capacity and issued a statement to American students that they would not be conducting an organized evacuation.
“A lot of [the Russian people] can’t leave, you know, they live here,” Kensington said. “They don’t have anything outside of Russia. Ask [yourself], could your family move to Mexico right now?”
Even if they can leave, relocation is even more complex for Russian citizens, particularly those of military age. Two years of military service is required of Russian men between the ages of 18 and 20 unless they’re in attendance at university. Still, there is concern that this exemption will be eliminated.
“They’re not letting men over 18 years old leave the country, even if they have Visas, or passports, or even [dual citizenship],” Kensington said. “They don’t want them to leave the country because they’re of military age.” A friend of Kensington's—a Russian citizen—and her family evacuated the country, but her elder brother was forced to stay behind, as he is eligible for military service.
As the situation has escalated, a series of sanctions have been placed on Russia by countries around Europe and the world: from the exclusion of Russian banks from SWIFT, a transnational banking system, to the freeze of Russian assets in international banks.
The resultant freeze of assets within Russia created a rush as Russian citizens attempted to withdraw cash before these sanctions were imposed.
“I was able to take out some money at the ATMs before all the sanctions,” Kensington said. “So I currently have $50 to my name and that’s it.” Many credit cards have ceased working entirely, both those directly associated with Russian banks and others—like Visa and MasterCard.
Preceding the implementation of these sanctions, the value of the ruble—Russian currency—was already plummeting.
“I mean—until now it [had] been very good for me, because that makes everything cheaper,” Kensington said. Since her assets are in USD, they were not affected by the drop in the ruble’s value. “It [was] basically like a blanket discount for me.”
The implications are much more negative for those who are paid via the ruble or store their assets through Russian banks. Although the effects are buffered within the country, they became much more noticeable outside of Russia’s borders.
“As soon as they leave the country, they are a lot poorer than they were a week ago,” Kensington said.
For the time being, the supply chain has remained intact, and most products are still available, with the exception of several foreign-owned brands. Several companies, including Apple and Nike, have placed independent restrictions on the sale of their products within Russia.
Although Russian civilians are bearing the brunt of the consequences, many are not in favor of the current conflict. Despite potential ramifications, thousands of demonstrators flocked to the streets of Moscow to join anti-war protests in the inner city.
“I have tried to stay the hell away from that,” Kensington said. “It’s not like protesting in America. It’s dangerous here.” Over a thousand protestors were arrested in Moscow alone. Unauthorized protesting warrants arrest in Russia and can result in imprisonment—the length of which can be arbitrary.
“The U.S. Embassy sent out [an email] warning all the Americans to stay the hell away,” Kensington said. The Embassy also disclosed that they would be unable to provide aid to Americans imprisoned for attending the protests.
As the situation has escalated, the police presence in Moscow has noticeably increased, particularly in the city’s innermost rings to control protestors.
“I was walking around and there were about five [police officers] on every street corner, along with these armored vans,” Kensington said.
The Russian government holds significant influence over the media and has been propagating a different narrative than much of the world regarding the events in Ukraine. In official statements from the Russian government, the situation in Ukraine has been referred to as the “denazification of Ukraine.”
“Basically everybody who supports Putin supports [this position],” Kensington said. “And there are certainly people that support Putin.”
Kensington has been sourcing much of her information from non-Russian news sources, social media and even from interpersonal communications.
“A lot of information in Russia comes by word of mouth,” Kensington said. “Somebody talks to somebody who knows something, and they tell their friends who tell their friends.”
A friend of Kensington's recently shared a video with her depicting the movement of ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles, or "nukes") along Moscow's ring road, which runs around the border of the city.
The atmosphere in Russia is constantly evolving, and Kensington has plans to leave the country if necessary.
Usually you can kind of predict what's going to happen in your daily life, you know, 'tomorrow I have plans to visit whoever, the day after I have a cooking class,'" Kensington said. "But now I can't really say that because the situation is changing every hour."
“The situation is changing so rapidly,” Kensington said. “There are some things that are true right now, but [weren’t] true yesterday, and might not be true tomorrow.”
Media compiled by Vivian Kensington, individual photos and videos courtesy to multiple anonymous sources.