As Anti-War Russians Flee, Ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan Prepares for Emigre Influx

"When Kirill Shamiev’s friends started talking about martial law, he realized it was time to leave Russia.

A week into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Shamiev — a 29-year-old Ph.D. student from St. Petersburg — began to worry he himself might be mobilized, or simply be trapped in Russia.

With air tickets to Turkey, Armenia and the Persian Gulf selling out fast, Shamiev was left with a convoluted route out of Russia: a flight to the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, then a connection to Bishkek, the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan’s capital.

“It’s cheap here, and people are friendly to Russians,” said Shamiev, who has since left for a European Union country.

Thousands of anti-war Russians have fled their homeland as authorities rammed through draconian new laws against anti-war dissent and domestic repression ramped up. But with European countries’ airspace now closed to Russian flights, most of Russia’s new emigres are heading for the countries of the former Soviet space." MoscowTimes