The thing is, at the beginning of the war, when we fled Russia, we didn't really have enough money to go straight to a developed country. We didn't have much choice, so we stayed in a country where it was easy for Russians to legalize their status. Here, all you had to do was open a company, for very little money. One of us became the organizer, and the other hired on as an employee. We did everything legally; our company does what it says it does. We pay taxes, salaries, and all that other stuff. This is where most of our money goes. The word "company" might seem like a big deal. In reality, one of us is simply a private entrepreneur, or individual entrepreneur, as they call it in Russia. It's simply providing services. In fact, most people who fled the war did just that. It's legal and allows them to somehow make a living.

What actually happened this fall. The guys in this country's government decided that we've actually "gotten too comfortable," "come in droves to their country and live practically for nothing" (while they've already doubled taxes during this time, and we pay VAT here regularly every time we open our wallets). Again, there's no talk here of Russians and Ukrainians fleeing war. The issue was raised precisely like this: too many have come and practically don't pay. The wording was exactly like this: can you imagine, we have companies with minimal capital and practically no activity. Again, they mentioned the fact that people didn't come here to see the mountains. And since the country isn't particularly successful by European standards, unemployment here is sky-high. So, the wonderful populists decided it was a great idea to force this issue to be resolved at our expense. They decided to pass a law raising taxes for a second time and mandating the hiring of at least two local citizens. That means we'll have to pay roughly two more €600 (the minimum wage) and two more income taxes, probably €200-250 each. The numbers aren't exact, but that's roughly the amount. We only have about as much money as we'll need to pay for these two new people. And just so you understand, these people can't help us in any way. I won't find anyone here who can draw like me, and Yulia will need years to teach someone else to do what she can. Roughly speaking, we're being forced to find a way to pay them another €1,500 a month. That's on top of what we're already paying. We simply have nowhere to get that money... And the very fact suggests they'll continue to look for ways to make our lives more difficult with additional levies. Let me remind you, this isn't the first time they've raised "taxes" just because we're Russian. I'm sure they'll find another way to make our lives "more fun" in a year. Their rhetoric doesn't suggest they'd like to help the victims of war in any way; they're clearly interested in increasing their meager budget by any means necessary. That's the story.

We're not quite sure what exactly we should do. We clearly need to break into a good country. That's why I decided to embrace the magic of Instagram. It helped me leave the country once, and I hope it will help this time too.

Our main idea is to get to a country where we won't be threatened with deportation every year. Well, at least not so harshly and abruptly. And where people understand that we're not exactly "tourists," but people who don't want to live in the place that Russia has become. A country where your life is under immediate threat every day, and which itself started a war with neighbors who are completely innocent. We're looking for just such a place. We have two places we could theoretically go to: an excellent option and a good one. The excellent option, a place that would suit us very well, is Canada. We're more of a snow-lover in the winter, and it's very difficult for us in a southern country. Plus, Canada is an incredibly advanced country in terms of democracy and human rights. I've recently come to appreciate that very much. But Canada has incredibly difficult immigration conditions. We're not a perfect fit. They do accept artists, but after five years, and currently, positions are temporarily closed indefinitely. The second-best option is any EU country. Portugal is currently the most welcoming EU country to Russians. It has the simplest residency requirements (compared to other EU countries). I can get there as a digital nomad. It's really the only option for us out of practically all the acceptable countries and options. In fact, the only thing we need to obtain a Portuguese residency permit is to prove my long-term income (at least six months) of 3,300 euros.

That's the plan for now. I kindly ask you to commission a drawing from me. We'll do it through Patreon. You won't have to pay the full price upfront, but a few euros a month over the course of about 15 months. You'll agree that's not much. And that way, you’ll basically save both of us from this never-ending shitshow. If you could just subscribe on Patreon without a commission, that would be much better for me. I have an endless amount of work, and if you could relieve me a little, that would be wonderful, but I'm happy with any option. As you can see, the plan is very simple: find people willing to support me.

I also wanted to answer the "unasked questions"—or rather, the ones asked, but not quite directly. I have a very mature, polite, and intelligent audience. I'm sure they have these questions, but they don't really want to ask them. Well, at least I would ask them if I were you.

A rather naive question. This is the one I hear most often. But also most often from people who are extremely young. The answer is simple: I'm already old. I turned 43 this year. There are two ways to get a job. The first is to work as a laborer at a construction site or factory, for example. That money won't help us at all; it won't even cover a small part of our needs, and I'll quickly ruin my not-so-good health there, and in five years or less, I'll be safely on disability. Because that money certainly won't be enough for any kind of healthcare. Let me remind you, we're migrants; healthcare doesn't exist for us, even though our age screams in our faces that we should have taken care of our health yesterday. That kind of work pays extremely poorly. I still earn more now. BUT! I've never ruled out that option, and if you abandon me, it's always on the table. But then again, this is the last step before living under a bridge.

I'm very happy to read messages like these. It's incredibly comforting to think that people invite us to their country, wishing us well. But unfortunately, the citizens of such countries are better off in those countries. For Russians, it's the same as where we are now. Please don't take offense at my words. I don't mean to seem rude. All of us Russians who have left the country keep an eye on each other and see what problems we're having in different countries; this is important to our survival. Security is currently of the utmost importance to us. A simple example: a few months ago, a Russian citizen was deported from the United States. He entered the United States completely legally, hadn't violated any laws, and wanted to stay there. But the court deemed him safe and sent him back to Russia on a direct flight. This Russian was an oppositionist, had all the evidence he needed to prove he was being persecuted in Russia, and yet they put him on a direct flight. Now this guy is sitting in a Russian prison. That same Russian prison. And this is the United States. The "Alma Mater" of modern democracy. You might say, but everything's different for you, and what does Argentina have to do with it? Don't you think the attitude is a bit similar to how we're treated here? This isn't an isolated incident, but the trends aren't particularly positive for us. No one thinks of us as needy, as having a hard time, as not being fucking tourists. We didn't all suddenly up and leave out of joy. We're not safe anywhere. That's why we want to go to the most legal country possible. In our opinion, the EU would be the last to give us up in this regard. Simply because they follow the rules as closely as possible. But there's another, very practical reason. We can't "choose" countries. Yulia needs at least a year to break even. She needs to build a new client base in each new place. This was a strong reason that kept her in Russia. All her clients, whom she'd worked with for years, were there. We can't "try it out" in, say, Argentina and, if necessary, "try it" somewhere else. We have to get out of here and get somewhere we'll definitely be staying for a long time, or we're screwed. This is the way...

In short, I hope not.

Although it's certainly embarrassing to hear that, but sometimes you have to. There's certainly some truth to it. It all seems like one endless post about how I have problems and you have to solve them. But somehow it turns out that this is what life is like when someone in your country decides to kill their neighbors with missiles and bombs. I could act like an asshole, pretend nothing's happening, and live peacefully there. But my conscience wouldn't allow it. I don't do this because I feel comfortable asking people for favors, and not just once every 10 years, but on a relatively regular basis. You know, it's a special feeling—asking people for something. Do I feel humiliated? Unfortunately, yes. Each time, and the feeling grows. But my conscience finds it easier to do this than to pretend that fascism is a great place to live and become part of it. Secondly, I'm still trying to become independent, not just sit there with my legs dangling. Third, I still try to work for money, not take it for free, although the situation is so pressing that I've already started mentioning it. And finally, I have no other options. I can't allow myself to resign myself to this fatal fate, and as long as I have the opportunity, I will look for a way out. I'm very, very sorry, I understand that this is unpleasant to watch, and I myself am not particularly happy about what's happening. But I simply have no other choice.

I have no idea, honestly. I can only speculate and try to think logically. There are two lines of thought and argument here. The first is that Yulia's basic income is much more stable and higher than mine. But her profession isn't suitable for emigration. No one will hire her in her field. But I might be accepted as a digital nomad. So, my job is to get her into a good country so she can earn a basic income for us. The more prosperous the country, the better off Yulia feels there, but they won't let her in. In this situation, I'm also a kind of guide for her. I can definitely try to start selling my products in the EU under normal conditions. I'm still really working on it:

Right now, it's practically impossible. For example, shipping some of my products from here to another country can cost me up to 50 euros. From the EU, it starts at 9 euros. I don't think I'll find many people willing to buy comics from me with 50 euros delivery. But for 9 euros, it's already negotiable. It works the other way too. For 45 euros worth of paint from Amazon, I have to pay an extra 50 euros, and some goods are simply not shipped to my region. It's a four-hour drive from my city to the EU... So I'm 99% sure we'll be much better off there. But there's always that one percent.

The second option, when considering this question, is the opposite approach. Should we not go? Stay here and wait for them to deport us to Russia? And then panic and look for a way out without money or resources? It's the same thing, only we won't have time, and things could end incredibly badly for us. We need to go urgently. Otherwise, we might not make it in time.

I haven't answered all the questions, but I'll be adding the rest I see here. I hope in these few questions I've explained the utter hopelessness of what's happening to us, why I write posts like these, and why I encourage you to commission characters from me. It's not because I want to live well. It's because I want to live somehow, and I don't have that many options. And I can hardly choose the most pleasant one. The options are mostly between bad and terrible. That's why I "beg" instead of returning to Russia. That's what it means to choose between bad and terrible.