Human Rights Migration Russia Youth
Photo Essay April 6, 2020

The fifth wave

By Maria Muzalevskaya

The Fifth Wave is a photo-project consisting of portraits of Russian émigrés, who left the country after 2012. The project was based on the report by the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, The Putin Exodus: The New Russian Brain Drain, which claimed that starting from 2012 around 1.6-2 million young people have emigrated from Russia abroad.

About the artist

Maria Muzalevskaya is a Russian documentary photographer whose work explores social-political issues and personal stories. Born in Russia in 1990, she got her master’s degree at Boston University with a major in International Relations. She has recently finished her Documentary and Visual Journalism program at the International School of Photography.

Subscribe for the latest on Russia

Receive updates for events, news, and publications on Russia from the Atlantic Council.



  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Further reading

The Eurasia Center’s mission is to promote policies that strengthen stability, democratic values, and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe in the West to the Caucasus, Russia, and Central Asia in the East.

Image: Russian passports are pictured during production at Goznak printing factory in Moscow, Russia July 11, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov