According to the publication, the Russians broke the five-year record for entering Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Mongolia. In 2022, Russians came to these countries 8.4 million times, which is 4.7 million more than in 2021.

As noted by “Novaya gazeta. Yevropa”, the majority of Russians left the country in the third quarter of 2022, when mobilization was announced in Russia. 3.5 million arrivals from Russia to neighboring countries were recorded in July-September, and another 2.1 million in October-December.

During the year, departures to Mongolia increased by 989%, to Georgia by 475%, to Kazakhstan by 234%, to Tajikistan by 212%, and to Uzbekistan by 99%.

Moreover, in 2022, the number of Russian flights to Israel doubled and exceeded 100,000. The number of departures of Russians to Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and the United Arab Emirates has also increased.

According to Mediazona, more Russian citizens left Russia in 2022 than in 2021, when the coronavirus restrictions were still in place, but this was almost twice as low as in a normal year without war and without COVID-19.

Russian Federal Security Service (FSS) takes into account all trips of citizens of the Russian Federation outside the country, that is, if a person went abroad twice, both trips are counted in the statistics. The FSS does not disclose information on the re-entry of Russians to their country.