Former Russian vice president believes Russia is now stronger after the exodus.
“Traitors, cowards are gone, they will let their bones rot in a foreign land”. Dmitry Medevev, Russia’s former president, cannot speak harshly enough to describe the thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of Russian citizens who have fled the country in recent weeks. These men, for the most part, wanted to escape the partial military mobilization decreed by Vladimir Putin on September 21 and announced for October 28.
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The Kremlin hoped to mobilize 300,000 reservists and says it has achieved its goal.
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“They are no longer with us, and we have become stronger and cleaner,” added the current Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation on his Telegram channel.
Up to 700,000 exiles
An internal Kremlin note released in the press a few days after the mobilization decree mentioned that of the 300,000 expected recruits, up to 260,000 men were exiled because they were not enrolled in the army and were fighting in Ukraine.
Forbes Russia magazine estimated that around 700,000 people, mostly men of military age, had fled the country.
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A significant influx of Russian citizens has indeed been recorded in countries bordering Russia, such as Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tasjikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Many Russians also flocked to Turkey.
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