Next Year in Moscow

In Next Year in Moscow, a special eight-part series from The Economist, host Arkady Ostrovsky charts a profound diaspora. His journey takes him to cities across Europe and the Middle East, sitting down with Russians who made the painful decision to leave their homeland after the invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. These are not casual emigres, but free-thinking individuals for whom the war called the very future of their nation into question. This podcast is built from their intimate, often difficult conversations, exploring how they piece together new lives in exile while wrestling with an enduring hope for a different Russia. Through their personal narratives-stories of loss, identity, and resilience-the series grapples with larger, urgent mysteries: the origins of this conflict and the possible paths toward its conclusion. It’s a collection of voices from the outside looking in, asking not only how to rebuild a life abroad, but whether they can ever get their country back. Each episode offers a vital, human perspective on a geopolitical crisis, moving beyond headlines to the lived experience of those whose futures were irrevocably changed.