In leafy Las Heras park near downtown Buenos Aires, young mothers push buggies in the late summer heat as locals sip maté in the shade. The scene would be typical of any middle-class neighborhood in a Latin American capital but for one thing: the moms are all speaking Russian.
They’ve been arriving in Argentina in droves since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine just over a year ago, many making the trip of more than 10,000 miles including layovers while heavily pregnant. Despite rolling economic crises and inflation near 100%, the country is providing a refuge from the war, a growing clampdown on dissent back home and the strict visa restrictions that have sprung up against Russians in other parts of the world.
One of the babies being pushed round the park is one-month old Lionel Zuev, whose parents arrived late last year, a few weeks before Argentina’s victory in the football World Cup. The infant, who became an Argentine citizen at birth, was named after Lionel Messi in a nod of gratitude to the country his mom and dad plan to make their home. As parents of an Argentine, they’ve already been granted residency and can apply for citizenship in two years.
