Columns The flow of emigrants from Russia is again like after the revolution – educated city dwellers are also fleeing through Finland

First the message came a couple of days after Russia had launched its massive invasion of Ukraine more than two weeks ago.

An acquaintance from Moscow asked for advice on how to get to Finland if the situation became such that he had to leave the country. Flights to the west had already been cut off, so preparations had to be made for new routes.

Similar messages soon crashed into the phone further as anti-war protests were disbanded, the last independent media outlets closed and the economy collapsed. Allegro trains from St. Petersburg were filled with Russians.

Many understood the situation a week after the attack began. It then became clear that Russia would turn into tyranny with the war. Authorities began enacting new laws, now challenging the official truth with the threat of up to 15 years in prison. As rumors of a declaration of martial law spread, many decided to leave.

From Russia there is an exceptional flow going on. One creek passes through Finland.

The situation is, of course, not comparable to the ongoing refugee crisis on Ukraine’s western borders, in which Ukrainian women and children are fleeing the brutal war in Russia. Yet the hasty escape of at least two hundred thousand Russians is looking for peers, mainly from the post-revolutionary years.

However, it doesn’t immediately come to mind when you look at the Russians who are continuing from Allegro to Tikkurila to the airport or leaving Helsinki’s railway station with their suitcases. We remember excerpts from history books of how Russia lost its lost upper class in a hurry across the border to Finland, how white Russians evacuated Crimea from the Bolshevik road by ship in November 1920, and how thousands of Kronstadt rebels fled across the ice to Terijoki in March 1921. Now nothing seems the same.

Recent migration is not only more organized but also much smaller. For example, those traveling to and through Finland must have visas. However, the emigrants are in the same situation as they were a hundred years ago. Departure may be for the rest of your life, but at the border you shouldn’t look like that. Authorities have re-examined the purpose of the trip at the border and went through the phones. So many had one suitcase with them. Money was also stuck when credit cards from Russian banks stopped working.

Last over the weekend the phone started beeping again. The guy who sent the first message was in Antalya because he had gotten a seat on the plane. The mother of one had been accommodated in a Tallinn bus, one had walked across the border to Latvia, and one had flown via Istanbul to Tbilisi.

According to Armenia, thousands of Russians have entered the country every day. More than 25,000 Russians have already arrived in Georgia. The planes were also full to Tel Aviv, Bishkek and Baku, even Bukhara and Tashkent.

For those in power, migration is a relief in the short term. Many emigrants oppose the war and are critical of those in power. However, the mass exodus of young people, urban, open-minded and educated people is a huge problem for the Russian economy, even in the slightly longer term. Many of the entrants are from the IT industry, university staff and have had careers in international companies.

Getaway is a personal tragedy, the former life and family are left behind. Those who go abroad experience croaking and even hostility, as sympathies are with Ukraine.

In the West and elsewhere, Russians who had been in the vicinity of those in power for a long time were treated favorably, and houses and passports were sold without concern. The children of the elite of the West lived in London, New York, and Paris. The sources of the money were not questioned. Now the line is changing, but it’s not quite as easy as politicians say.

Now the West should decide how to deal with these new emigrants. Perhaps those fleeing Vladimir Putin could be offered at least some of the kindness previously shown to his supporters.

The author is the editorial editor of HS