Where Did Russians Go After 2022?
Between 650,000 and 920,000 Russian citizens left the country after the invasion of Ukraine. Some stayed. Some moved again. Some are still figuring it out. Here's where they ended up — traced to primary data, not vibes.
Last updated: 2026-04-28
The Three Waves Nobody Planned For
First wave
Feb–Aug 2022
~500,000
Invasion of Ukraine, political crackdown, flight of IT and media workers
Source: OutRush / The BellMobilization wave
Sep–Dec 2022
~400,000
Partial military mobilization announced September 21
Source: Wikipedia / government dataOngoing trickle
2023–2025
~100,000+
Continued repression, border restrictions, second-wave mobilization fears
Source: OutRush Wave 4 (Mar 2025)Who Ended Up Where
Russian-born or Russian-citizen population estimates per city / country. Geography noted — some figures are country-level because that's all the government published.
The Numbers, With Receipts
| City | Estimate |
|---|---|
Top property buyers in Dubai Q2 2023. No official census data. | 300,000 |
🇰🇬Bishkekcountry 184k arrivals Jan–Sep 2022. Retention rate unclear. | 184,000 |
930k entered Sep–Dec 2022; 146k remained by year-end. Most left since. | 146,000 |
35% of all Russian arrivals to Turkey settled in Istanbul | 78,700 |
81% of Russians in Georgia concentrated in Tbilisi | 73,700 |
| 67,000 | |
Peaked at ~100k in late 2022; dropped to ~60k by Oct 2023 | 60,000 |
32,494–37,000 made aliyah in 2022 alone — 400% increase | 37,000 |
🇩🇪Berlin | 36,610 |
Birth tourism phenomenon also drove arrivals | 14,000 |
| 8,200 | |
| Total (these cities) | 1,005,210 |
The Second Move
One in five Russian emigrants changed countries after their initial landing. Twenty-eight percent plan to move again within a year. The first stop was rarely the last.
| First stop | Left | Moved to |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia | 50% | EU countries, Serbia |
| Turkey | 50% | EU countries, UAE |
| Kazakhstan | 84% | Returned to Russia, EU |
| Armenia | 40% | Serbia, EU |
Where people actually stayed
Source: Carnegie Endowment, July 2024 / Stanford FSI
Who Actually Left
40%
Under 30 years old
48%
Cited political repression
37%
Men citing mobilization fear
61%
Learning host-country language
Sources: OutRush Wave 4 (Mar 2025), Levada Center
Are they going back?
Methodology & Sources
Every figure on this page is traced to a primary source: government statistics offices, academic surveys (Stanford FSI, OutRush longitudinal study), or international organizations (IOM, Carnegie Endowment). We do not cite media reports of media reports.
Population estimates vary by methodology. Some countries report residence permits (Serbia), others report arrivals minus departures (Georgia), and others offer no official breakdown at all (UAE). Where city-level data exists, we use it; otherwise, country-level figures are marked.
The total of 650,000–920,000 is the net emigration range — the number who left and did not return. Up to 45% of initial departees may have gone home.
Primary sources
- OutRush Project — Longitudinal emigration survey (Wave 4, Mar 2025)
- Stanford FSI — On the Move (Kamalov et al., 2024)
- Carnegie Endowment — Should I Stay or Should I Go?
- Levada Center — Emigration sentiment surveys
- The Bell — Russia's 650,000 wartime emigres
- IOM — Migration Situation Reports (Georgia, Kyrgyzstan)
- GWU Russia Program — Russian Exodus to Dubai
- Mixed Migration Centre — Uncertain Horizons: Russians in Exile
Considering one of these cities? See what it actually costs to live there.