Exile begins

Right around his 29th birthday in the fall of 1919, Oleksii's life turned upside down.

Members of the Russian ultra-nationalist and pro-monarchist Black Hundreds movement had taken control over some areas of the Kuban'. They immediately began to arrest and exile members of the Kuban' Peoples Republic and any other political organizations that did not agree with their ideas.

Oleksii was among them.

Oleksii Balabas Russian Passport, page 1

Oleksii was issued a passport, probably by a provisional Black Hundreds governmental office.

Oleksii Balabas Russian Passport, page 6

A stamp with handwritten text on page 6 states (in Russian) that he is permitted to travel "beyond the borders [of Russia] ... without right of entry into the territories of Russia". In other words, he is being exiled.

Oleksii Balabas Russian Passport, pages 8-9

On pages 8 and 9, we see stamps from the British millitary mission giving permission for him to travel from Taganrog to Constantinople (Istanbul), and a note in French (across the spine) showing that he arrived in Constantiople on December 23, 1919. The British were involved because they were the military occupational force in Constantinople after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I.