Around 3.8m people left Russia in the first quarter of 2022, official statistics show. According to the analysis most people went to Georgia, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Finland. Journalist Alex Luhn on Twitter wrote "3.8 million (!) people left Russia in the 1st quarter of the year, according to official stats. Anecdotally that included most of the pro-Western, opposition-minded folks. Don't hold your breath for a revolution."
Meanwhile, Russia on 24th February launched its invasion of Ukraine. And, according to the latest updates, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, demanded that Ukraine order its fighters holed up in Azovstal to surrender, the Kremlin said. In a call with Israel’s prime minister, Naftali Bennett, Putin claimed Russia was still ready to provide safe passage for civilians from the plant, according to the Kremlin. However, the UK government has placed sanctions on Evraz, the multinational steelmaker part-owned by the billionaire Roman Abramovich. The company was formerly counted among Britain’s biggest companies. The Foreign Office said on Thursday that the action would “further chip away at Putin’s financial reserves and siege economy, and support Ukraine’s continued resistance”. Also, a $300 million yacht belonging to Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov has been seized by Fijian authorities at the request of the United States Department of Justice.