Hundreds and thousands of people are leaving their hometown as the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russians had been leaving even before the Ukraine war, including those who disagreed with Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and with new laws that made it easier to punish dissent. Many settled in the Baltic states and other EU countries, as well as in Georgia.
Many Russians shared her feelings and what had been a trickle turned into a stream.
President Putin began a military mobilisation in September 2022. Described as “partial” by the authorities, in reality it meant most men were at risk of the draft.
Numerous reports followed of poor training and insufficient kit provided to the newly conscripted.
How many left the country?
Though there are no exact figures of people that left the country but estimates vary from hundreds of thousands to several million as leaving Russia is relatively easy, as long as you have money and have not been called up to the army. But finding a permanent place to stay is hard.
Also, In many other countries – such as Georgia and Armenia – Russians faced no such restrictions and could come and go as they please. They still can.
Nearly 17,000 have applied for political asylum in EU countries but only around 2,000 have received it, according to the European Union Agency for Asylum.
What does this mean for Russia?
The Russian authorities tried to downplay the impact of hundreds of thousands of educated and well-off people leaving the country along with their money, but the economic impact is evident.
“There will be increasingly more demand for people to be able to fix cars or make shoes. I don’t like apocalyptic scenarios but I believe this will lead to productivity within the Russian economy continuing to fall over time.”