By Jason Corcoran

Synopsis

Leaving Russia follows Jason Corcoran as he and his family flee Moscow after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, joining a historic exodus of Russians escaping repression, fear, and moral collapse.

As they struggle to rebuild their lives in Ireland, Corcoran becomes entangled in a chilling investigation into two powerful oligarchs seeking EU ‘golden passports.’ The book chronicles the experiences of a director, a musician, an investment banker, a billionaire entrepreneur, an opposition leader, and a tech founder, all swept up in the mass flight from Russia. As they flee, these individuals face the personal and professional consequences of a society in moral and political freefall, while elites scramble to secure EU residency in an attempt to straddle both worlds. Corcoran provides an insider’s view of a nation unravelling. War, corruption, and state propaganda have emptied Russia of dissidents, artists, and entrepreneurs, while compelling once-powerful oligarchs to return to a country they scarcely recognise. Through vivid storytelling and incisive analysis, Leaving Russia exposes the human cost of Putin’s regime and examines what it means to lose – and to search for – a homeland in a fractured world.

About the authors

Jason Corcoran is an award-winning journalist and Russia analyst based in Ireland. Until the invasion of Ukraine, he spent 14 years in Moscow as a senior correspondent for Bloomberg News and Dow Jones, reporting across the post-Soviet world. His work has appeared in The Sunday Times, The Washington Post, Business Insider, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian, and he has featured as an expert commentator on MSNBC, the BBC, RTÉ, Newstalk, Al Jazeera, and Channel 4.

Reviews
“Leaving Russia offers a powerful window into how Putin has devastated Russia’s greatest resource: its people. The book captures a society in moral and political freefall, as oligarchs scramble to secure European residencies, protect their fortunes and navigate a life straddling two worlds. Corcoran draws on insider knowledge to reveal a nation unravelling, where war, corruption, and relentless state propaganda have driven out dissidents, artists, and entrepreneurs, leaving once-powerful oligarchs to return to a country they scarcely recognise. He exposes the human cost of the regime and asks what it means to lose a motherland and search for belonging in a fractured world.”
Sir William [Bill] Browder, financier and political activist and author of the best-selling Red Notice.

“An absolutely cracking read by one of the best journalists to cover Putin’s Russia, “Leaving Russia” is a stellar, sharp-eyed look at what happens when a nation sacrifices a successful future for a successful present – and ends up with neither.”
Casey Michel, journalist and author

“Russia’s best and brightest, traitors and chancers, a Kremlin fifth column, or something in-between? The million-plus Russians who have fled their homeland since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine fill the pages of Jason Corcoran’s punchy and evocative book. With abundant anecdotes and vignettes, and insights born of many years as a correspondent in Moscow, the author dispels naive hopes about a united diaspora spearheading opposition to Putin. The people he describes are (mostly) Russians first, and exiles second. For the countries that host them, and for anyone concerned with Russia’s future, this book could not be more topical.”
Edward Lucas, author and Times columnist specialising in European security, Russia, and intelligence affairs.

“Jason Corcoran is uniquely qualified to tell the harrowing story of the million-strong exodus from Russia resulting from Putin’s crackdown following the invasion of Ukraine. Forced himself to leave Moscow after fifteen years as a correspondent and analyst, he shares the emotional and physical toll of leaving relatives and empty flats behind. Here he documents the experience of individuals refugees, from writers to oligarchs, and the impact of their arrival on Russia’s near-abroad. This is a valuable and well documented contribution to our understanding of the human cost of Putin’s savage war.”
Conor O’Clery, former Moscow Correspondent for The Irish Times.