Russians have been running away from political repression by Soviet and post-Soviet regimes for decades. They fled in their millions long before the war in Ukraine. But they never created vast diaspora communities until now.

Districts like Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach, which are known as Russian havens, are really dominated by Ashkenazi Jewish communities drawn from a range of former Soviet countries.

In many cases, Russians abroad say they feel insecure around their former countrymen. And, in any case, neighborliness is not a famously Russian trait; there is even a well-known saying about getting even with the neighbors you hate: “Do nasty things at night,” which suggests you take revenge on the people next door under cover of darkness.

It’s taken President Vladimir Putin’s hateful invasion of Ukraine and domestic crackdown to bring the current wave of exiles together.

Russian activists are creating vast new communities in Germany, Georgia, Armenia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, France, the U.S., Israel, and Central Asia. Russian volunteer movements are helping Ukrainian refugees; charity activity is on the rise; Russian shelters are springing up in many cities receiving Russian exiles around the world: humanitarian and political activity seems to be the glue holding Russians together abroad these days. Even in Miami, rich Russians donate, volunteer, and host Ukrainian families escaping the war.

The new breed of Russian exile is united by the Kremlin’s latest draconian clampdown. Where Josef Stalin’s KGB used to designate out-of-favor Soviet citizens as “enemies of the people,” the modern term of choice is “foreign agents.”

Putin’s choice of terminology has undermined past efforts to build bridges to emigrant Russians in the West.

Russians who rarely united in diasporas before the war are now helping their exiled brothers.

The first “International Congress of Foreign Agents” will be held on Feb. 3 in Berlin. The event........

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