Volodin called on Russians who left to return while there is an opportunity – Kommersant

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said that more than half of the Russians who left after February 2022 have already returned. He connected their return with longing for loved ones and the “Russophobic policy of Western states”, and also called on the rest of his fellow citizens to return to Russia.

Mr. Volodin said that “many people who left were treated like second-class people.” He referred to the statement of Czech President Petr Pavel, who, in his words, “offered to send Russian citizens living abroad to concentration camps.” Mr. Pavel urged He did not say anything about concentration camps to “closely monitor” Russians living in Western countries, but he mentioned the experience of internment of hundreds of thousands of Japanese in the United States during World War II.

“After such words, our citizens, who still remain in Western countries, need to think about where they went, what they found and what awaits them. Considering what is happening, it’s right to finally turn on your head: today there is an opportunity to return, tomorrow, with the hysteria that is being whipped up in Western Europe, it may no longer exist, ”the State Duma speaker wrote in Telegram channel.

How many Russians specifically left the country against the backdrop of the Russian military operation in Ukraine is not specified, nor is the number of those who returned. According to Rosstat, about 600,000 people left Russia in the first ten months of 2022, which is almost three times more than in 2021. Vyacheslav Volodin himself called the departure of Russians from the country is a betrayal. Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov advised fellow citizens who have left to seek happiness in countries where “they don’t burn the flags of your homeland.”

Laura Keffer