‘My future is taken away from me’: Russians flee to escape consequences of Moscow’s war

Alexei Trubetskoy knew he had to get out the moment he woke up and looked at his phone on the morning of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine.

“I got up, checked the news in disbelief and realized I had to leave as soon as I can,” he said. Trubetskoy, who runs an English language school in Moscow, bought a ticket to Sri Lanka on the same day.

“It was clear to me that the horrible invasion will change Russia forever.”

A growing number of Russians have decided to leave their country following Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, fearing the economic and political consequences the move will have.

“I hope to return to the country I love, but it is completely unclear what will happen next. My future is taken away from me, the country won’t be the same,” Trubetskoy said.

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Russia has already seen a major crackdown on those opposing the invasion.

More than 7,500 people have so far been detained at anti-war protests across the country, according to the independent monitoring site OVD-Info. A number of the country’s independent news outlets have also been forced to shut down.

But those who leave are also fearful of the economic uncertainties that the country now faces: the Russian rouble and financial markets crashed this week after the West implemented crippling sanctions, and Moscow has also seen a mass exodus of western companies, including Ikea, Apple and Nike.

Google analytics showed that the word “emigration” saw a spike in searches over the last week while countless Telegram channels have been set up in which worried Russians are discussing ways to leave the country.

Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, said it was expected that the country would see an exodus of its “quality working force” who will sense there is “no future” for them in Russia.

“This exodus will mean the degradation of the nation. The country doesn’t have a very large pool of talented people. Without them, Russia can’t develop itself,” Kolesnikov said

The exodus has been fuelled by rumours that authorities could declare martial law as soon as Friday, when the federation council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, is due to hold an unscheduled meeting.

Such a move would be unprecedented in modern Russian history and could involve mass mobilization of the male population as well as the closure of borders, according to an official document describing the law.

“I got my family together after a friend at the ‘top’ called me about this martial law thing. We booked the first plane available on Tuesday and flew to a random country I have never been before,” said Anton, a senior manager at a major Russian oil and gas firm. “I am not planning to fight in this war that wasn’t my decision to begin with.”

Related: ‘I fear Putin is unstoppable’: Russians on the invasion of Ukraine

Tatyana Stanovaya, a prominent Russian political analyst and founder of R.Politik, on Wednesday evening tweeted that introducing a martial law could be a “logical scenario”.

“The proclamation of martial law will allow the authorities to introduce military censorship, to increase the secrecy of the state’s activities and the actions of local bodies.”

The last time the federation council called an unscheduled meeting was February 22, when the body approved Vladimir Putin’s request to use military force outside the country, two days before the invasion of Ukraine. The federation council said it will officially meet to discuss a package of anti-crisis measures in response to western sanctions.

In a briefing with reporters on Thursday, the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, dismissed speculation about the introduction of martial law. A senior source working at one of the three major airports in Moscow also said he believed it was “unlikely” that the borders would close.

“We haven’t been informed about anything. I think it is unlikely. At the same time we are in a war, so let’s see,” the source said.

But as speculation mounted, a feverish mood was felt in Moscow on Thursday.

Those seeking to leave faced a severe lack of available flights after western countries closed their airspace to Russian airlines. Moscow has also closed its airspace to much of the west in response.

Flights to Yerevan, Istanbul and Belgrade were completely sold out for the coming days while a one-way ticket to Dubai was priced at over £3,000 ($4,006) – compared with £250 ($334) in ordinary times – according to the flight aggregator Skyscanner. Train tickets from St Petersburg to Helsinki were also sold out on Thursday and Friday.

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Some men who left earlier this week said they were extensively questioned at the Russian border.

Andrei, a Moscow-based cinema director, said he was held at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport before boarding a flight to Baku.

His luggage was searched, and an official went through his private chats on different messaging apps.

“He took my phone and spent a good hour scrolling through everything. Luckily, I deleted all chats discussing my opposition to the war on Telegram and Signal,” Andrei said.

“I was asked if I ‘truly’ loved my country and if I was against the war. He asked me why I wanted to ‘flee’ and why I was reading independent outlets like Meduza.

“It was one of the scariest moments in my life,” said Andrei, who eventually was allowed to board his flight.

Amid growing uncertainty, the head of the central bank, Elvira Nabiullina, urged her fellow Russians to stay calm.

“We will definitely pull through this…Friends, let’s remember, a lot is dependent on us, we need to leave behind any disputes and just help our colleagues,” Nabiullina said in a rare public statement aired on Russian state television. Russia earlier this week also introduced new laws to stimulate the country’s IT sector. Many Russians working in tech will likely be eyeing to leave the country given that their skills will be valued abroad.

But despite efforts by officials to convey a sense of stability, some at the very top of the Russian government have themselves evacuated their loved ones.

“Our whole family flew to a country south of Russia earlier this week. We were advised to leave as soon as possible,” said the daughter of a top Russian official who has met Putin on multiple occasions. “We will weather the storm here.”