One year after its outbreak war in Ukraine, rich Russians stay rich while in your city Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates their funds found refuge. Russian has become the lingua franca in the coastal state, and Moscow restaurants are rushing to open branches in Dubai hotels. The city’s new Russian diaspora is made up of oligarchs facing economic sanctions from the West, as well as middle-class Russians who fled there to avoid Putin’s conscription.

One of Dubai’s greatest strengths is the political apathy of its residents and visitors. “Why should I work in a European country where I am not welcome? They don’t want to see us in Europe,” says Tamara Bigaeva, who recently opened a beauty salon in the big city of the Emirates.

The presence of so many super-rich Russians in Dubai also proves that Putin’s sort of “social pact” with the financial elite remains in place. The President of Russia promises even greater wealth to those from his entourage who remain faithful. Political scientist Ekaterina Shulman even believes that Putin is preparing to remove other legislative restrictions on enrichment, such as exempting deputies from the obligation to disclose their income and property.

“Oasis of security”

“Dubai is an oasis of security for the foreseeable future. Everyone is trying to “park” their capital somewhere,” says real estate agent Anatoly Kamensky, who boasts that he and his team sold $300 million worth of real estate in Dubai last year.

Part of the artificial island of Palm Jumeirah is completely occupied by Russian restaurants and nightclubs. At one last Saturday, Russian buyers ordered bottles of champagne for $1,200 each. When a drunken customer shouted “Long live Ukraine!”, security officers took him out of the store.

Russian government officials and their families continue to travel to Dubai for holidays, but are trying to keep a low profile. In southwest Russia’s Vologda region, the pro-Putin United Russia party recently expelled two of its deputies after photos of them relaxing in Dubai were published. Their company included Ksenia Shoigu, the daughter of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.