Why are people leaving Russia, who are they, and where are they going?
Hundreds of thousands of Russians are estimated to have left their country since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We look at who they are, where they are going, and why they are leaving.
Svetlana is in her early 30s and originally from a small town. She moved to Moscow at 18 to study physics at university. After graduation she worked as a product manager for various companies.
“I never thought I’d have to leave, I planned to retire in Moscow,” she says, “I love Russia and I enjoyed my life.”
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.
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