Be yourself and live among your people – in Russia

Hi, my name is Oxana  and I am the founder of the Window to Russia project. When I was 18, my parents informed me that we were moving to Germany. I was studying, I had friends, relationships. I was categorically against it! But my father set a condition: to move with my family, to draw up documents for citizenship, and then, if I wanted, to return. But I stayed.

25 years have passed. During that time I have had children, but the desire to return to Russia has never left me. I felt like a guest here. We had ties of kinship and friendship with Russia, and we were actively doing business between our countries.

However, the pandemic made me think seriously about what was happening in the world. I have long pondered where to live next and where future generations will be comfortable. And now, in January 2021, I spontaneously find myself in Altai. Having flown to Germany, I already want to go back - I realize that I want to buy land there. Before that, I had not thought about construction and resettlement at all. But three weeks later I am back in Altai - I decide to buy a plot.

In the spring of the same year, my family and I set off on a big trip across Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Gorno-Altaisk. I feel and realize more and more clearly that I want to go back. My youngest son, who was born and raised in Germany, declares that he wants to stay in St. Petersburg. I understand: our future is here.

But by chance it turns out that my documents are not quite in order. For us who have lived abroad for many years, facing the state machine is a great adventure. Yes, we speak Russian, but it is difficult or practically impossible for us to draw up documents correctly, to buy real estate or to draw up a contract.

Our "European" mentality is so different from the Russian mentality that we do not always understand why it works that way in Russia. We don't feel these subtleties, we don't know the laws, but this is what determines how comfortable we will be in a new place.

I felt again what it means to be a "stranger amongst your own". I realized that the realities of Russian life did not coincide with my outlook and understanding of business. Yes, I was able to get my documents in order in just a couple of weeks. But I also realized that I could warn against mistakes and support those who were moving with me.

This is how Window to Russia came into being. Within the framework of this project, we create communities and move together. Because only together can we realize what we have dreamed of all these years of living in Europe.


We do not gloss over the problems that exist in Russia. We openly and honestly warn about the ways and consequences. We guide and discourage, if necessary.