When you’re in permanent immigration, you probably lose objectivity.

Of course, you can have an opinion on any political situation or world conflict, regardless of where you live or your immigration status.

But I think there is a class of people — and I belong to it — who are more at risk of making questionable judgments.

When I started drafting this story yesterday, it was going to be very different. I wanted to share the main reason why I don’t ever see myself returning to Russia. The reason is the people in Russia — collectively.

Let me explain. I left Russia in 2013 with my family and never went back. Initially, I followed the news from and about the country, but my interest waned sooner than I expected. It’s like the door got shut, with a bang. I had no interest and no nostalgia. It was the world I once loved, at least some elements of it, like Moscow, my home city, but the farewell turned out much easier than I could imagine. Every now and then, I’d be reminded of my ex-home country, always in a negative way — the assassination of Boris Nemtsov, the Crimea invasion, the Olympic doping scandal, and, of course, the war in Ukraine. Even when my heart and mind re-engaged, I avoided any debates with my ex-compatriots. I had no interest in influencing them. We’re just too different, and I’ve been too far away from the country for too long.

My Mom is different. It’s been two years since she left Moscow, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, and she still follows the news obsessively; she…