After years navigating the byzantine corridors of provincial Russian power, Denis Sharonov now works as a truck driver, steering his way along the vast highways of the US.
"It is heavenly up here in Michigan. Texas was too hot," said Sharonov, the former agriculture minister of Russia's northern Komi Republic, in an interview with the Guardian.
Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine has set off a historic exodus of his own people. Since the start of the invasion, hundreds of thousands of Russians are believed to have left the country, driven by their opposition to the war and the fear of being sent to the frontlines. Many have scrambled to find jobs in exile.
But few career changes are as unusual as the one made by Sharonov, who fled Russia in September 2022 after being drafted into the military.
"A lot of people don't understand my choice, they mock me. They say I downshifted, from a regional minister to truck driver," Sharonov said. "But I don't see it that way at all. I am proud of what I do."
Sharonov's Instagram account, once filled with images of him in a suit and tie meeting officials and farmers in Komi, now resembles one of a travelblogger on a road trip.
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