The human rights project Kovcheg, which helps Russians emigrate, reported a sharp increase in inquiries about leaving the country in August, according to its representatives speaking to Meduza. In the first 20 days of August, the project's support bot received 6.3 times more questions about emigration than in all of May, and the number of appeals to chat moderators grew 5.27 times.
Over the past three months, the number of requests for emigration consultations has grown about 1.5 times, Kovcheg founder Anastasia Burakova told Ekho. She said the phenomenon can already be called a new wave of emigration, though in many cases it is still about "testing the waters" and preparing for a move rather than actually leaving. The scale of the wave is hard to assess, as the vacation season is in full swing.
Alexandra Nazarova, editor-in-chief of the Relocat project, told Ostorozhno, Novosti that since July, the number of requests for relocation consultations has grown about 1.7 times. Many requests are urgent — people want to "manage to leave before September–October."
Kovcheg links the growing interest in emigration to rumors of a new mobilization wave after the September elections and plans to introduce exit visas from Russia. Burakova noted that during consultations, people often express fears about a possible new mobilization. Yevgeny Fomichev, coordinator of Kovcheg's mutual aid chats, said that people who have realized that "there is nothing to wait for, nothing will happen, nothing will end" are thinking more about moving.
Among the main reasons for emigration are the alarming situation, fear of a new mobilization, fatigue from life in Russia, and the desire to "live and work calmly," Nazarova listed.
Russians are most interested in moving to Armenia, Georgia, Serbia, Argentina, and Latin American countries. Kovcheg explains this by the visa-free regime for Russians and the large amount of information about moving to these countries since 2022. At the same time, interest in Kazakhstan has declined — the country has tightened rules for legalization and entry, and also detains those persecuted for political reasons. Interest in Montenegro, which is introducing visas for Russian citizens, and in EU countries due to long visa waits and strict financial requirements, has also fallen.
In July, the number of searches for the word "pereezd" (move) in Russian search engines reached a maximum over the past 2.5 years, and the query "mobilizatsiya" (mobilization) grew almost threefold over the month, calculated journalists from the Mozhem Obyasnit project. The query "pereezd" was made 809,900 times in July — a record since the first wave of mobilization in autumn 2022. The word "mobilizatsiya" was searched more than 3.4 million times, compared with almost 1.3 million in June.
Russian authorities officially deny plans for a new wave of mobilization. There is no official decree on the completion of mobilization.