This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nefariousrussians.com

In this ep we talk to Masha Surazhsky to get an update on her Ukrainian refugee saga.

Evgenia and I previously talked to Masha in April — when she was going through hell trying to get both her elderly aunt and a family friend, who is a minor, out of Poland and into America. Since then things have stabilized: Masha is helping her friend fit into a new life as a war refugee in Brighton Beach, while the rest of the family is stuck in Ukraine. Masha’s aunt, meanwhile, has decided to take the risk and return to her hometown of Kharkov. She’s not alone. Plenty of Ukrainians, faced with a precarious existence refugee in Europe and elsewhere, have been making the same choice.

—Yasha