Russians who initially fled the country but are now returning from abroad are boosting Russia’s economic growth in the face of unprecedented Western sanctions, Bloomberg reported. report Thursday.
Estimated 1.1 million people left Russia in 2022 after Moscow launches a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Between 40% and 45% have since returned, according to customer data from Moscow-based moving company Finion cited by Bloomberg.
Returnees contributed between one-fifth and one-third of Russia’s GDP growth of 3.6% in 2023, according to estimates by Bloomberg Economics.
These Russians reportedly face difficulties renewing their residence permits abroad, even in countries that are friendly to Russia and do not impose sanctions on Russia, and face personal and institutional risks. He said he chose to return to his home country because he encountered discrimination.
“They came back feeling angry and thinking, ‘Putin wasn’t so wrong after all.’ They really hate us,” says Social Foresight, who interviews Russian immigrants.・Bloomberg reported the group’s sociologist Anna Kuleshova.
Political analyst Tatyana Stanovaya said Russian propaganda was using the comeback story as evidence of “Russophobia” spreading in the West. For Putin, who has hailed the return of Russian entrepreneurs and highly qualified workers as a “positive trend,” the process “gives him encouragement and further proof that he was right.” Stanovaya said.
Citing a study on Russian migration by the European University Institute in Florence, Bloomberg reports that the sense of insecurity felt by Russians living abroad suggests that the repatriation process is likely to continue as the war drags on. I told them I was there.
There will be two waves of emigration in Russia in 2022. The first time was after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the second time was in the fall when the Kremlin announced a “partial” mobilization. Many fled due to opposition to the war, fear of economic collapse, and refusal to be sent to war.
President Putin initially described the leak as a “natural and necessary social cleansing” of “scum and traitors.” But by last summer, Russian leaders changed their tune. description Those who remain abroad as “an additional element that connects Russia with foreign partners.”