As recounted by Sorin Toma, in 1936 or 1937 Răutu personally witnessed, and excused, Foriș's mental breakdown. Following the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Răutu was among those tasked with recruiting Romanian leftists for the International Brigades. This was one of his final activities in Greater Romania. Answering a call for repatriation, Răutu and Natalia emigrated to the Soviet Union following the 1940 occupation of Bessarabia. Before leaving, he entrusted his documents to Foriș's lover and secretary, Victoria Sârbu. Although Jewish, he was not dissuaded by the interval of Nazi–Soviet cooperation: once relocated to the Moldavian SSR, he was made co-editor of "Pămînt Sovietic" ("Soviet Land"), a propaganda magazine. He may have also been an ideological instructor for the Bessarabian Communist Party.