Enemies of Russia aren’t welcome – Peskov

Russian citizens who left the country and spoke out against Moscow should stay away, Kremlin spokesman has said

Russians who fled the country due to the Ukraine conflict and adopted the positions of enemies of Moscow should stay away, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said, adding that those who left but did not make themselves foes of Russia should return.

The statement was made during an interview on Thursday with Komsomolskaya Pravda radio.

“I believe that all enemies should stay abroad, and all who are not enemies should return,” the Russian president’s press secretary stated, stressing this was his personal point of view.

Peskov’s statement echoes remarks he made in March when he said that some of those who left the country “literally took the position of an enemy of their country.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin also weighed in on the issue at the time, saying the attitude towards those who return to their homeland would depend on their deeds. 

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“If in the minds of the overwhelming majority, not some part of some elite, but the overwhelming majority of citizens, a person behaved immorally in relation to Russia, then, of course, he will feel it when he returns here. How else can it be?” he said, adding that anyone who violated laws would have to answer for it.

Putin’s announcement of a special military operation in February 2022 prompted many Russians to go abroad. The president’s order of a partial military mobilization of reservists in September 2022 also triggered a new wave of departures, with many Russian citizens choosing to head for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Armenia, none of which require a visa for visiting Russians.

The relocation process has since slowed if not reversed, experts say. According to various estimates in Russian media, up to half of those who relocated in 2022 have already returned. 

Putin has praised the return of business people, entrepreneurs and highly qualified specialists as a “good trend.”