Russian Revolution and Civil War forced many Russian residents from their homes. Hundreds of thousands civilians, including the "White" opponents of the revolution, fled hostilities and terrorism to quieter angles

of the former empire and even abroad. One of the most prominent migratory roots led to the South towards the Black Sea shores and eventually, with the evacuation of the Crimean peninsula in November 1920, to Istanbul. In this article, Timur Saitov tells the story of the survival in the city of tens of thousands of exiles from Russia and examines how they integrated into the Ottoman capital, which in those years was the subject to the military management of the Allied Powers. For a certain period, the Russian refugees became a vibrant element in the economic, social and cultural life of Istanbul, with some even remaining in the city forever.