Russians made nearly 10 million trips out of the country from July to September

From July to September of this year, Russians made 9.7 million trips outside the country, nearly twice as many as they made during the previous three month period, says Russian state broadcasting company RBC.

According to the publication, 70 percent of all trips out of Russia were to Abkhazia (2.5 million), Turkey (2.1 million), Kazakhstan (1.3 million), Georgia (around 460,000), and Finland (around 430,000).

RBC notes that the number of trips abroad exceeds 2021 figures for the same period, but does not reach pre-pandemic totals, when Russians made 16.1 million overseas trips.

However, Russian trips to post-Soviet countries broke recent records. Russians went to Armenia a little over 267,000 times from July to September, the most since 2018. In the third quarter of 2022, Russians made twice as many to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as in the same period in 2019.

Russians most often report at the borders that they are traveling for private purposes, mentioning tourism significantly less often.

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Mobilization was announced on September 21 in Russia. That day, Russians bought up all tickets for upcoming flights out of the country, and miles-long lines formed at land border crossings. Russians typically went to countries which they can enter without a visa.

In October, many Russians who had no exemptions from mobilization were denied permission to leave the country, even if they had not been called up for military service. Media reported an FSB database of people who were barred from leaving the country – it contained around a million names. In November, media reported that the ban was no longer in effect.

By various counts, several hundred thousand people had emigrated from Russia by early October.