Paul Goble
Staunton, Feb. 7 – Only 10 percent of Russians who left in 2022 because of the war have returned to their native country, according to the Russian Academy of Economics and State Service, a figure lower than the roughly 20 percent the European Institute in Florence reported and far lower than the 50 percent Putin has claimed and that many have reported as gospel.
According to the new study based on an online poll that also tracked where those who left have gone first and then settled, some 650,000 people left the Russian Federation in 2022 (vedomosti.ru/society/articles/2025/02/07/1090699-v-rossiyu-vernulis and actualcomment.ru/uekhavshie-iz-rossii-ne-vozvrashchayutsya-2502070947.html).
While such a survey is not without its problems, it is certainly no more problematic than the Florence investigation; and it is certain to cast doubt on Putin’s claim and spark more worries about how his war in Ukraine has accelerated the brain drain from a country that can ill afford that.
No comments:
Post a Comment