Radio Liberty reports tens of thousands of middle-class Russians fled the country in March, seeking to escape the harsh economic and political fallout from the war in Ukraine.
But because of a lack of visas, flights, tickets, and financial resources, many reportedly ended up in post-Soviet countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Russian is still widely spoken in many parts of Central Asia, a factor that has made Russian émigrés' transition to their new lives much easier
Tech industry professionals can work remotely, so many of them kept their jobs at Russian companies operating in the region.
RFE/RL notes that it is not known how many Russians have moved to Central Asia since February. But the numbers were reportedly high enough to drive rent prices up in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, and other cities in the Central Asian region.
There were many highly skilled professionals among those fleeing Russia, which caused something of a brain drain in the country.
Just a month after the so-called “special military operation” began in Ukraine, the Russian Association of Electronic Communications reportedly said that up to 70,000 information technology specialists had already left and up to 100,000 others were on their way out.
Russian IT specialists generally have better qualifications than the local specialists, and Uzbekistan reportedly saw an opportunity to lure them in an effort to boost its own IT industry. Tashkent’s offer of expedited work and residency permits, tax benefits, and housing and child-care assistance attracted thousands of Russian IT workers within weeks.
As far as Tajikistan is concerned, some Russian specialists also arrive in Tajikistan in early March, but Tajikistan was just a “transit” stop for them as many on them planned to move to a third country.
