One runs for life, another for livelihood: How commoners in Russia, Ukraine are coping with war

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has not only caused around 28 lakh Ukrainians to flee their home country, but even Russians are allegedly moving over to other neighbouring countries.

While armies battle each other in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, civilians in both countries also paid (and continue to pay) the price for political and military offensives. Reportedly, more than 28 lakh people in Ukraine have so far left their country. But even the Russians aren’t staying home. An estimated two lakh people from Russia, too, have allegedly crossed borders, as claimed by a Russian economist, Konstantin Sonin.

The corporate warfare has so far led to almost 400 multinational companies exiting Russia, leaving the fate of thousands of employees hanging mid-air. Adidas, Alphabet, Amazon, American Express, Apple, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Microsoft are among the corporate giants that curtailed operations in Russia.

“Since Putin's devastating invasion of Ukraine began, 380 companies have announced their withdrawal from Russia — but some companies have continued to operate in Russia undeterred,” according to the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute. The list of companies leaving Russia is regularly updated and the above data is as of March 15, 2022.

Russia became the most sanctioned country in the world with a total of 6,400 sanctions. Since the war started, Russia's actions have invited 3,646 sanctions from across the globe. The European Union imposed a maximum of 678 sanctions starting February 22, 2022.

With the exit of foreign firms and a significant impact on the supply chain, Russia's unemployment rate — 4.4 per cent in January 2022 — is estimated to double in the coming months. The chaos has propelled workers to hunt for their livelihood across the border.

“The border crossing between Finland and Russia has been registering an increased flow of persons who wish to leave Russia and enter Finland. This route is amongst the few routes that allow movement from Russia to the EU, according to schengenvisa.info.

Apart from those crossing the Russian-Finnish border with buses and private cars, the express train that links St Petersburg and Helsinki has also reportedly been full for days now. Georgia’s minister of economy Levan Davitashvili also apprised that 20,000-25,000 Russian citizens had recently arrived in Georgia.