Recently, Vladimir Putin (at the SPIEF plenary meeting) said that about half of the citizens who left Russia returned. At the same time, his tone towards “immigrants” was decidedly conciliatory: “I see nothing wrong with it. Let people live and work where they see fit.” But at the same time, he noted with satisfaction that the extradition process continues. Maxim Oreshkin, vice-president of the Russian president, reports that “almost half of those who left” returned in the fall of 2022, supporting his boss’s words, attributing this to an increase in the level of optimism in the population. And Finance Minister Siluanov, “pessimists who have not yet returned.” ” believes repatriation is possible and necessary.
According to the words of Digitization Minister Maksut Shadayev, even the “easiest” category of so-called IT specialists has reached home. So now, according to the minister, there is no need even for a special program for the return of this category of workers. True, Shadayev did not name specific figures. He said that at the end of last year there were about 100 thousand Russian IT specialists abroad (about a tenth of the total). The point now is that the Ministry of Defense is not impressed by Shadayev’s optimism and does not start lobbying for the lifting of conscription deferments for this category of workers. When they get enough.
However, the Department of Defense has its own source of optimism, and so far the ministry has enough. As Shoigu said last week, they don’t see a need for new volunteers for the SVO, because now 114 thousand people have signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense, an average of 1336 people are signing up per day, and there are more than 50,000 applications. .
Thus, the contract recruiting mandate set by the president at the beginning of the year, seen as a clear alternative to a new wave of “partial mobilization” (the authorities really did not like the pictures from the Upper Lars border crossing in September-October), turned out to be fulfilled. If he is still supervised by Dmitry Medvedev (as stated at the beginning), he did. Such information and statements certainly reassure the relocation officers and their relatives, who have come to the conclusion that the immediate threat (and the cause of the panic) is gone and that a gradual retreat is possible. We will treat this information as soothing, not sedative, intended to lure and then slam the door.
If you follow the “profile” Telegram channels, you can see that the panic that erupted after the partial mobilization announcement has really subsided: people are returning home after 9-10 months of absence. True, not all of them seem to return for good. Some – to solve some cases, fix documents, sell property. And then, come back after preparing for the next stage.
True, the events of June 24 and the attempted rebellion reminded us once again that Russia is a land of opportunity, but also unpredictable. Moscow and St. Street fight scenarios in St. Petersburg began to come to life in the minds of the most timid. The most timid wealthy “immigrants” rushed to personal business jets, and those without jets rushed to buy tickets to the few available foreign destinations.
In the UAE, for example, it was possible to fly thousands that day for 200 rubles. True, this time the panic passed quickly, as the revolt quickly ended – and not at all as expected. Russia knows how to surprise the whole world, sometimes it manages to do it twice a day. The remaining alarmists “immediately” refused to flee. Still, someone may have delayed the return.
Of course, many – perhaps even most – return because they can’t find work. Because they confuse tourism with immigration. Because there was no work, or no work needed, and the money was gone. In this sense, the current immigration, unlike the previous ones, is for relatively wealthy people. Because they proved to be unprepared for or unable to endure the significant reduction in social status that accompanies any migration, with almost no exceptions. Many were not particularly inclined to leave for good. They were set up to wait/sit – or just broke in panic. It is especially difficult for Moscow-replaced people in a foreign country (definitely), because today the capital of Russia is a highly developed city in the world in many respects, including the level of service and various services, the convenience of the same digitization. public transport and much more. In order to renounce all this and all past life forever, it must be known in the name of exactly what. Not everyone knows and understands this. They come back first. And most of those who understand why – they will not return, or not all. Therefore, a certain number of resettlers will inevitably fall into the category of asylum seekers.
Undoubtedly, the Russian authorities should have a special big thank you to almost all the governments of the so-called “enemy countries”, governments that have done and continue to do everything possible to ensure that as few people as possible and potentially mobilized people leave the region. he hated Putin, including among other things highly qualified personnel.
Russians are not given a visa, an account is not opened, they are not given the right to work, not to mention asylum, fleeing from mobilization in Europe is not considered a reason for tolerance here. With a few exceptions that made them particularly prominent, they were all made “collectively responsible”. And many “friendly countries” are dissatisfied with the occupation of immigrants.
Latvian authorities gave their standard response, stopping all visas to Russians on the day of the Prigozhin uprising. We are talking about humanitarian aid since they do not issue tourist cards anyway. The President of Georgia again demanded the introduction of a visa regime for the Russians and the strengthening of the border. The option to close the border was considered by the Kazakh authorities, but they did not have time to consider it.
Recently, the President of the Czech Republic generally said that Russians in Europe should be treated as Japanese (most of whom are American citizens) are treated in the United States. And by the way, they were then held in special camps for four years. He then tried to somehow explain his statement, but at least a letter from the State Duma with the words: “Burn more, brother!” – Signed by Volodin himself, I believe that he fully deserves it.
There are no official figures for those who left last year. An insignificant number of people were released on June 24, because there were “optimists” in the country, who, using Siluanov’s words, were completely hardened.
Accordingly, there is no figure to show what “half refund” means. And how long has he been back? Various estimates put the number of those who left as part of the second wave after the start of military special operations and then the declaration of mobilization as 400-700 thousand, but we also saw numbers of more than one million (about one and a half). It is really difficult to accurately determine the number of “true displaced” as almost everyone travels to either visa-free countries or visa-free countries as tourists. How difficult is it to determine the exact number of permanent returnees.
We must pay tribute to the Russian authorities – they stopped the “hatred” campaign against the departed, although not immediately. The source was mainly in the Duma, including the person led by it.
At the end of last year and at the beginning of this year, the property of the displaced was confiscated, all kinds of “material difficulties” were created, work in Russian companies was prohibited, tax rubles were imposed on them, etc. However, there was another line as these are “our people who can make mistakes or get scared after all” and we have to fight for them. So far the second has won. And this certainly calmed many who were hesitant and prompted them to turn back.
Historically – and patriotically – this is true. Regardless of their political beliefs, anyone with a Russian passport should be “ours”. There is no need to organize another “civil war”, even so-called. No need to defame anyone – the entire twentieth century has passed in this all.
The question is whether this line will be maintained or will it fall under pressure from internal enemies and “angry patriots” who specialize in finding a “fifth column”. As the main alleged source of all our troubles and problems.
For example, Senator Andrey Klimov, without waiting for the return of the remaining half of the departed, urges all relocation officers returning to the country to “take the pen”, because there may be “obvious enemy agents” among them. “Our enemies have not missed an opportunity to expand the ranks of their supporters and agents through recruiting activities among so-called displacement officers,” says Klimov. “In this regard, no one canceled the functioning of the legislation on the control of persons under foreign influence, much less such articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that are considered treason,” he said. Do not bend the bar again. We’ve been through this “historic rake” many times.
However, the head of the Duma (who acknowledged the possibility of confiscating the property of those who had left) is now urging the displaced to return as well. Referring to the same Czech President Petr Pavel and the anti-Russian “hysteria” in the West in general, he also adds – until he says it’s too late. I’d like to believe that this tone about “before it’s too late” is not an echo of previous threats, which were only temporarily delayed to retreat from the far corner when the number of potential victims of targeted repression for infidelity increased. falls to such a level that so many penalties can be easier than purely technical administration. It is also important that what was learned from the failed June 24 rebellion did not follow the well-known path of “rewarding the innocent and punishing the innocent”.
The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the editors’ position.
Source: Gazeta
Dolores Johnson is a voice of reason at “Social Bites”. As an opinion writer, she provides her readers with insightful commentary on the most pressing issues of the day. With her well-informed perspectives and clear writing style, Dolores helps readers navigate the complex world of news and politics, providing a balanced and thoughtful view on the most important topics of the moment.