Emigrating from Russia Again ‘More a Privilege than a Real Choice,’ ‘Nezavisimaya Gazeta’ Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 5 – Kremlin outlets have been trumpeting the finding of a VTsIOM poll which supposedly shows that fewer Russians are thinking about emigrating since the start of Putin’s war in Ukraine than were earlier, a shift that if true would seem to confirm the government narrative that Russians are rallying around the country’s leadership.

            But in a lead article, the editors of the independent Nezavisimaya gazeta argue, that the findings of the telephone poll may not prove what the Kremlin believes they do and that in fact far more people might like to leave but feel they now have no choice but to remain given that many places are now beyond their reach (ng.ru/editorial/2022-04-05/2_8409_editorial.html).

            The editors say that any “departure abroad is now more a privilege than a real choice” that anyone can make. Moreover, they note that the poll fails to include any information on the attitudes of the more than 200,000 Russians who have left the country since the start of the year. And they thus warn that the survey’s results don’t show what the Kremlin says they show.

            Many Russians are unhappy both with the war and with the increasing level of repression in their country and might like to leave. But given increasing Western anger at what the Russian military is doing in Ukraine, at least some of them may feel that they would not enjoy the warm welcome that they had earlier expected.

            Consequently, they are staying put, at least for now; but that does not mean that they are fully supportive of what Putin and his regime are doing either at home or abroad.