K

Another inspection, another inquiry about drones, and I was out of Uzbekistan. A curt interaction on the Kyrgyz side, and I was done with border crossings for good.

As in Dushanbe, every hotel in Osh was overflowing with young Russian men, but I found space in a tent in the yard of a guesthouse. In the morning, I sat down for breakfast in the small kitchen, which was already packed with about 10 other young men. I remained quiet for some time, just observing them while munching on a delicious pastry unlike anything I had tasted in months. It had… what was it... ah yes, flavor!

Eventually I got to chatting with K, a PhD geneticist who couldn't have been more than 30 years old. I knew what I wanted to talk about, but I felt a tinge of guilt at my sordid voyeurism, so I let him lead the way. After a few minutes of small talk we arrived at the subject - after all it was inevitable. His lip quivered as he described the situation at home. He had dropped everything to leave practically overnight, but at least he had plenty of data that would keep him busy for a while. He described how this war and sanctions had caused the involuntary severance of academic ties and collaborations. Publishing articles in journals usually costs a small fee, but they could not pay them because Russia had been cut off from SWIFT. Science is a beautiful and vital form of diplomacy that often transcends politics, and it is sad that it too is a casualty of this war.

K has a 22 year old brother who could not leave for some reason, so his parents were hiding him. The same parents who had been ardently pro-Putin until that week. K's plan, insofar as he had one beyond escaping Russia, was to go to Armenia, where Russians are allowed without a passport. I'm not sure where he intended to go from there, and I don't think he was either.

After breakfast I packed my bags and realized that I still had all but two of the bottles of Armenian brandy. Sadly I hadn't ended up giving any more away, and somehow they'd survived this far. I wasn’t going to drink them, so I took the largest bottle - after washing the grime off - and asked the owner to give it to K as a pre-welcome to Armenia gift.