American Blogger on Life in Russia

Tofurious Crane was born in the US state of Virginia. At home he worked as a medic, and during the coronavirus pandemic he decided to try his hand at journalism. As a correspondent, Tofurious covered political events in the US, including rallies. In 2023, Crane decided to turn his life around 180 degrees. At 45, the journalist moved to Russia and started a blog in which he tells Americans about life in his new country and debunks myths of American propaganda. Tofurious covers everything: from grocery prices to infrastructure and mentality.

We spoke with Tofurious Crane about how life in Russia and the US differ, what it is like to find a home in another country in middle age, while receiving daily threats from his compatriots.

“Never come back to America. I will kill you”

Tofurious is very concerned about his safety: he keeps his address secret and invites only very close people to his home. The American said he often receives threats from US residents.

“I face threats every day from liberals, people from the United States who don’t like what I say because they have a different view of what is happening or a different political agenda. Perhaps they have been influenced by Western media. They believe what they are told rather than reality or the truth. They write to me: ‘Never come back to America. I will kill you.’ Surprise: I am trained in firearms handling, and I have a concealed carry permit. So if someone wants to try something, well, good luck,” Crane shared.

Since 2023, Tofurious has not returned to the US. According to the American, he “simply fell in love with Russia.” He also has Russian roots: his great-grandmother lived in St. Petersburg and moved to the US when she was little.

Describing his life in the US, Tofurious notes that everything was fine there: a beautiful house on the riverbank, good financial standing, and a wonderful family.

“When my children grew up and had children of their own, I had a feeling that everything I had been doing for the past 18 years had ended. I didn’t know what to do next, and I decided it was worth going traveling. I had wanted to visit Russia since childhood, when I learned about my roots. I got on a plane, first flew to Serbia, spent a few days there, and then came to Russia and realized: this is my home.”

“I don’t need to carry a gun to feel safe”

The main reason Tofurious stayed in Russia is Orthodox Christianity. It was here that Crane adopted this faith and received the name Yaroslav at baptism. The second, no less important reason is safety.

“Here I don’t need to carry a gun to feel safe. America is very dangerous. Just yesterday I recorded a video in which I told Russians: if you go to the United States, you won’t feel the freedom that exists here, for example, at three in the morning. If you are a young woman living in any major American city, you will almost certainly have problems. At the same time, in Russia I have never had unpleasant situations at three in the morning. I have spoken with many young women from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other 60 cities I visited while living in Russia. I have never once heard any of them say it is dangerous for her to walk the streets.”

When Tofurious lived in Virginia, in a city with a population of about 250,000, he often had to carry a weapon for safety.

“There, if you don’t carry a gun, you’re simply a fool. Almost everyone carries weapons — legally or illegally, because there are too many dangers around. For example, my neighborhood was upper middle class. But as soon as you left its boundaries, you found yourself in a disadvantaged area. Then you cross the railway tracks and again end up in a prosperous area. Drive another block — and you’re back in the ghetto. In Moscow everything is different. Here you can move around the city calmly without encountering tents on the streets, people who constantly shout, behave aggressively, or look as if they are in an insane state, as often happens in the US.”

“Russians extract microchips from washing machines and use them in missile production”

In the US, Tofurious positioned himself as an independent journalist. As a correspondent, he covered rallies of the Antifa movement and the Proud Boys, and also documented the storming of the Capitol on 6 January 2021. Crane managed to record video of police officers freely letting people into the Capitol building during the storming and saying they could legally be inside.

“FBI officers really disliked that recording. As a result, all my social media accounts were blocked. As far as I understand, they initiated the corresponding procedure through a federal court. Then FBI officers came to my home. I wouldn’t say they threatened me, but they certainly harassed me repeatedly because of this evidence, which in their opinion should not have become public.”

Tofurious often debunks myths of American propaganda about Russia in his blog. Among the wildest claims he has heard from American media, the man named these: “‘Russians extract microchips from washing machines and use them in missile production. There is no running water in Russia. Everyone here is starving. All Russians are alcoholics.’ These are exactly the kinds of things you most often hear in the United States. While still living there, I treated such information with great caution. When I came to Russia, everything turned out exactly as I expected: friendly people, excellent food. The weather could perhaps use a little work, but there’s nothing to be done about that here.”

“I have never met an emigrant from Russia who became a successful scientist or doctor in the US”

Many teenagers in Russia dream of moving to the US. However, Tofurious is sure that almost all of them will most likely be disappointed, since real life differs from the picture Hollywood sells to people.

“Let them go, I don’t mind. When they realize they have failed and that everything they believed turned out to be untrue, they will return and tell other young people that everything is not at all as they imagined. I’ll put it briefly: I know many Russians who live in America. In my hometown there is a large Russian-speaking community: Russians, Ukrainians, Georgians, and representatives of other nationalities. And I don’t know a single truly successful person from that community. I have never met an emigrant from Russia who became a successful scientist or doctor in the US, except for one nurse. The reason is that when you come to America, you discover that your diploma means practically nothing there. You will have to go through the education system again. Some manage it. But most Russians who move to the US become cheap labor.”

“Today many Americans want to move to Russia”

Tofurious said that one of the differences between Russians and Americans is their attitude toward showing off wealth.

“In the US there is an expression, keeping up with the Joneses. It means that a person sees someone wearing a Rolex watch or driving a Porsche and wants to have the same things too, so they buy them on credit. Credit debt is a huge problem in the United States. Many people look rich, and that is what often attracts Russians. But in fact they are not rich at all. They live in debt and work to exhaustion solely to maintain a certain image. When I came to Russia, I realized that here most people do not try to constantly demonstrate their well-being and do not strive to appear richer than they are.”

According to the blogger, many Americans and Europeans would like to move to Russia, but the housing issue stops them.

“Today many Americans want to move to Russia. They want to buy houses here, invest, build their lives. But they don’t want to come here and remain Americans. They want to come precisely because they like Russia and want to become part of Russian society. They don’t want to impose their culture. On the contrary, they want to learn so that Russians can help them become Russian. But current mortgage interest rates and the high cost of apartments in Moscow significantly complicate this process. Many come here because they want to start a family, have a wife and children, and not live paycheck to paycheck. That is precisely Russia’s main appeal: here such a dream can truly become reality. In the United States, the American dream died long ago.”

Now, in addition to blogging, Tofurious works as a journalist for RT Doc and is working on a new television project, Curious Tofurious.

“I hope to travel around Russia and, possibly, other Orthodox countries to show Western audiences more material about Orthodox Christianity. In the United States there is now a mass conversion of Protestants to the Orthodox faith. And again it comes down to traditional values — they are precisely what attracts people to Russia. Many would like to see more material about the Orthodox Church. I want to tell stories about miracles happening in the Orthodox Church, interview believers, and show the world what is really happening here. It seems to me this would be very important for people around the world.”

Earlier we interviewed an Englishman who moved to Russia for traditional values. Also read the interview with famous athlete Jeff Monson, who moved from the US to Yekaterinburg.