"The better off and educated" Russians represent most of those trying to leave the country to flee mobilization, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry. The availability of labor is expected to shrink with the mass departure of educated people, it reported on Sept. 29.
"The acceleration of brain drain is likely to become increasingly significant," the report reads.
The report also says that the exact number of Russians who fled their country is unclear, but it likely exceeds Russia's total invasion force size at the start of the full-scale war in February. At the beginning of its full-scale invasion in February, Russia amassed 150,000 troops at its border with Ukraine.
A week into Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's attempt to mobilize Russians to fight against Ukraine, over 260,000 Russian men had fled the country, according to Novaya Gazeta.
Putin announced "a partial mobilization" on Sept. 21, saying the country would call up only 300,000 reservists. Kremlin critics have warned that this is, in fact, a general mobilization phrased differently. The mobilization decree is vaguely written with many ambiguities.
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