The Cентябрьский: exit, voice, and the consequences of mobilisation in Putin’s Russia

Abstract

On the 21st of September 2022, Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilisation of Russian reservists to support his ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine. For hundreds of thousands of young men eligible for conscription, the news sparked an immediate decision to emigrate. The idea of protesting against the decision within Russia no longer seemed viable. Exit, for them, had become a necessity. Drawing on the framework of Hirschman’s (1970) Exit, Voice, and Loyalty, I ask how the Hirschmanian model applies to the September 2022 migratory wave from Russia. My research builds upon nine interviews I conducted in late 2023 with the Sentyabrsky (сентябрьский), a term I introduce to Western literature to denote the September relocants, that is, the collective of predominantly young men who fled Russia in the wake of the 2022 conscription announcement. First providing a taxonomy of the Sentyabrsky, I assess the interplay of their emigration with political voice across the Russian world. Ultimately, I argue that the mass emigration of this politically engaged class, in tandem with the increasingly repressive policies of state authorities, has significantly diminished the prospects for reform in Putin’s Russia. Exit, just as Hirschman would suggest, has subdued the voices against the war in Ukraine; because, for many of the Sentyabrsky, the hope of return means that outspoken opposition remains a dangerous prospect. In such a way, mobilisation might be seen as an invaluable tool in ensuring domestic loyalty for ongoing conflicts.