Estimates for the number of Russians who have left Russia since its full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 range between several hundred thousand and well over one million. The countries where they are concentrated include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Israel, Turkey, Serbia, the Gulf states, and the Central Asian states. Most Western countries have not been major destinations. The EU has adopted a restric- tive visa policy toward those leaving Russia while the United States is also difficult to enter.
These recent Russian emigrants tend to be young, politi- cally active, well-off, and flexible and dynamic. They include large numbers of IT specialists as well as journalists, poli- ticians, and public intellectuals associated with Russian nongovernmental organizations or the liberal media that were closed after the invasion. Other significant categories are academics, teachers, cultural actors, and entrepreneurs.
The majority of the recent emigrants was more politically active in Russia than their predecessors and more clearly driven by current political circumstances or even political persecution. They also show a higher level of trust toward each other. For many, the reasons for leaving Russia include opposition to the war and a rejection of the regime.
In recent years, different initiatives by exiled political figures have provided some “voice from above” for oppo- sitional forces outside Russia. Since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine many of them have tried to consolidate their efforts, and there have been new initiatives to help the emigrants. But any building of an “official” representa- tion for oppositional Russians abroad should not hurt the efforts to develop a common vision and values across the emigrant landscape.
The emigrants have created initiatives and carried out activities that can be crucial for developing a broad demo- cratic movement. Groups founded to meet urgent emigra- tion needs are transforming into heterogeneous mutual aid communities of people who meet regularly for a wide range of activities. Organizations have been created and run by people with a high awareness of the need for civic participation. Some are beginning to consolidate the emigrant communities with an agenda aimed at democratic transformation.
Policy Paper March 2023
Media and journalism initiatives are an important part of the bottom-up developments among the 2022 Russian emigrants. Media projects founded by journalists from cities in different regions of Russia aim to reach out to audiences there as much as in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Several projects aim at establishing horizontal links in society in Russia by covering the life of ordinary people there.
