How many Russians have emigrated from their country since the outbreak of the war on Ukraine last February?

This is the question that the French website Mediapart tried to answer in an article that talked about the asylum of Russian immigrants towards countries surrounding Russia, through land ports.

Mediapart stated that it is impossible to know the true number of immigrants in the absence of accurate official data, and Forbes Russia was quoted as saying that estimates indicate that their number ranges between 700,000 and one million immigrants.

The Kremlin denied the validity of these published figures, although the number of immigrants continued to rise in a remarkable way, in the words of Mediapart, who quoted Olga Pronikova, an activist specializing in Russian immigration, as saying that these recent migrations are “unprecedented, impressive and unexpected.” He recalled the great migrations after the outbreak of the Bolshevik Revolution at the beginning of the last century.


land ports

The French website said that the suspension of airlines between Russia and the world pushed the migrants to head overland towards the countries bordering and close to Russia, including Armenia, which maintains good relations with Russia to support it in the face of its rival Azerbaijan.

Mediapart quoted the Armenian authorities as confirming that about 372,000 Russians entered its territory during the first six months of this year, compared to about 156,000 last year.

In Georgia, Mediapart said that tens of thousands of Russian citizens have crossed there, and the Georgian Minister of the Interior was quoted as saying that more than 53,000 Russians have entered the border since the partial mobilization was announced in Russia, while thousands are still rushing every day to the Verkhny crossing. Lars border, which is the only way to reach the country by land, after all direct flights between the two countries have been suspended since 2019.


At the beginning of this month, Kazakhstan announced that about 200,000 Russian citizens had entered it via the border since last February, and then about 147,000 left the country after that, without clarifying where they left to.

Mediapart stated that the Serbian Ministry of the Interior revealed that the number of Russians who entered its territory between February 24 and May 31 reached 44,531, and that the number is likely to have increased after that date.


European Union

The European Union confirmed that 66,000 Russian citizens have sought refuge in the EU since the partial mobilization was announced on the 21st of last month, and the majority of migrants crossed from Finland and Estonia.

Helsinki was then forced to close the borders to even those with tourist visas to Europe on the grounds that there was a "risk to international relations".

According to Mediapart, the European Agency for the Control and Protection of the External Borders of the European Union (Frontex) expects a rise in the number of arrivals from Russia to the borders of the European Union, and is preparing even for illegal entry operations.