Russian State Duma speaker says ‘traitors’ who left after Ukraine invasion not welcome in Russia

Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin wrote that Russians who left the country after the beginning of the war in Ukraine and are now returning “should understand that no one here is waiting for them with open arms,” in a statement posted on his Telegram channel. “They have committed treason against Russia, their homeland, and their loved ones," said Volodin. He added, without further elucidation, that many returnees failed to find work abroad.

Volodin also said that those who obtained Israeli citizenship but came back to Russia after the escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict were running away, “abandoning their commitment to defend” their new country. Russians should stand with their homeland in “a variety of situations,” stated Volodin, giving the example of “young folks” fighting in the war or supporting the economy.

Volodin has spoken repeatedly about Russians who left after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, calling them “traitors” and saying they should “think clearly” or they might lose the opportunity to return to Russia. In October, Volodin said that Russians who “desire the victory of the murderous Nazi Kyiv regime” should be sent to the Magadan region, which is known for its prison camps, if they return.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that Russians who left the country after the start of the war in Ukraine have nothing to fear if they return to Russia, but “for those who have become enemies, there is probably no place in our homeland.”