More than 650,000 Russians have fled homeland since Ukraine invasion in biggest 'brain drain' since Soviet collapse

Of the 650,000, more than half have made cross-border trips to Kazakhstan or Georgia, or nearby Armenia and Israel - with some 344,000 Russians emigrating to the four countries.

Other notable destinations for defectors, according to Russian opposition outlet the Bell, include Turkey, Germany, Spain and Serbia - all of which rank in the top 10, taking in tens of thousands of leavers each.

And the UK - long eyed-up as a destination for Russian emigrants and the country's ultra-rich - has taken some 15,000 defectors since February 2022.

The departures mark the largest "brain drain" for Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union when 1.6 million Russians fled; more than 80 per cent of the exiles are understood to be university-educated, while over 85 per cent are younger than 45.

And the total could be even higher than the reported 650,000 - countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Greece, and Cyprus do not provide Russian immigration data, while others such as Portugal lack updated Russian immigration statistics beyond 2022.

A report on the figures by the Institute for the Study of War said the "permanent loss of this population will continue to impact Russia's economy" as richer, more educated Russians depart en masse.

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Experts in the West have expressed their concern over the possible fallout of a large-scale brain drain; the University of Bath's Dr Stephen Hall, writing for the Henry Jackson Society, suggested the UK should give anti-Putin Russians "democratic passports" in order to help establish a credible opposition to the country's regime from overseas.

Dr Hall wrote: "Leaving Russians to deal with the Putinist system alone is not an option. Russia is not going to go away.

"Whether we like it or not Russia is here to stay. Western governments must support the Russian diaspora in developing a plan for a democratic future-Russia."

But despite the exodus, hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens have returned to Russia since the start of the war.

Many who sought to flee overseas had faced visa problems, discrimination and financial issues - but that hasn't stopped Putin from making jabs at the West, claiming that Russians had not been able to assimilate due to their "disgust" over gender-neutral toilets.

Despite Putin's jokes, he has welcomed the return of some Russians, calling their return home a "good trend".

But that has not stopped the Kremlin from taking action; authorities in Russia are thought to have established a large-scale database of defectors, sparking fears among emigrants that they could face severe consequences upon any sort of return to their homeland.

Some Russians in neighbouring states have taken extraordinary measures to try and evade trouble when they go home; one exile, Pavel, who lives in Georgia, said: "It's nerve-racking every time I go back... I delete everything on my phone that could be grounds for arrest before I reach the border."