Roughing it in Exile: Russian Style

It’s labeled as upscale, swanky and the Beverly Hills of Moscow. Closed to normal traffic and safe for anyone who can afford to live here. Barvikha Luxury Village. “Nestled amongst pine trees, the uniform wooden fronts have a fantastically elegant feel. Most of the major fashion brands from Prada to Gucci to Dolce & Gabbana to Bottega Veneta and many more are … operating.” UpStart.bizjounrals.com. You can also go for the truly expensive luxury items and bag a Ferrari or a nice low-key Bentley. Nearby homes are, well, opulent and very, very secure. Gates, walls, guards, cameras peering at everything that passes and security systems that would challenge James Bond. It’s about a 40 minute drive to city center, and while there’s no way to turn off the harsh Russian winter, for those who can afford it, life here is hot in oh-so-many ways. Why the travel-log, Peter?

Well, this is also the lure for deposed heads-of-state that were forced to abdicate… at least those leaders that towed the Putin policy mandate. It is the insurance policy Moscow holds as its guarantee of a fine lifestyle if leadership just doesn’t work out. And it is the likely residence-in-exile when the Assad family is forced to leave Syria. I suspect that the shopping here is a whole lot better than what is available in Damascus these days. Here, the shells are likely to contain pearls. Oh, and Mr. Assad’s fashionista wife, Asma al-Assad, should be able to spend the purloined millions (billions?) that the Syrian dictator’s family has purported salted safely away over the many decades of corrupt rule.

“For now, even with rebel fighters closing in on Damascus, diplomats in Russia, Mr. Assad’s most important ally, have denied they are considering granting him safe haven as a step toward resolution of the conflict. But the Russians have come through with 11-hour rescues of their allies before… ‘The Russians have experience with getting heads of state out in the nick of time,’ said Mark N. Katz, a professor of government and politics at George Mason University in Virginia. ‘They could be trying to signal to Assad there is an offer, but the window of opportunity is not going to remain open for a long time.’

“Leaders’ hurried packing and just-in-time flight to this place from angry street crowds or the nearing sound of gunfire brought measures of resolution to conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and elsewhere… The town, home mostly to Russian nouveaux riches, is blocked from Moscow by traffic jams, but is otherwise a fine alternative to becoming the star in a show trial, or a victim of a summary execution on some dusty roadside… Russia has been inching closer to agreeing to a settlement that would include Mr. Assad’s departure, if that is even possible at this juncture, with rebels occupying parts of the capital and firing mortar rounds at the presidential palace in the Muhajireen neighborhood of Damascus.” New York Times, December 28^th.

The neighborhood sports the who’s who of deposed leaders living under the protection of Russia’s grant of asylum, no questions asked. “Borislav Milosevic, the brother of Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian leader who was accused of war crimes and who died in 2006, said that family members who had settled in Barvikha had been getting on swimmingly since the Yugoslav conflicts faded from the news… The former leader’s widow, Mirjana Markovic, and son, Marko Milosevic, live in separate villas here…

“[In 2005, Askar Akayev, then the president of Kyrgyzstan, with literally the clothes on his back, escaped to the Village.] Outside his presidential palace, an angry mob had gathered. An overturned car was on fire. Protesters had shinned over a wrought-iron fence and were breaking ground-floor windows and prying open doors… Then came word from a security adviser: The time had come…

“Moscow’s reputation as a welcoming city for deposed autocrats was reinforced in 2004, when the mayor at the time, Yuri M. Luzhkov, provided his private jet to Aslan Abashidze, the separatist leader of the Ajaria region of Georgia, in a timely gesture. Federal troops had already started their advance into his capital city, Batumi… Mr. Abashidze reportedly lives in Barvikha.” NY Times.  Asylum? Bring it on! It’s good to be rich, powerful and exceptionally cruel?

I’m Peter Dekom, and what goes around seldom really comes around in this harsh real world.