The rich abandon Russia as sanctions kick in
India Today
Over 200 private jets left Russia between February 24 and February 27 - the first four days of the Russian military operations inside Ukraine - global flight-tracking service Flighradar24 noted.
Data published by an open-source flight data platform shows that the number of business jets leaving Russia spiked as the Russian invasion of Ukraine moved forward. More than 200 private jets left Russia between February 24 and February 27 - the first four days of the Russian military operations inside Ukraine - global flight-tracking service Flighradar24 noted. Overall, nearly a thousand private flights were observed leaving Russia during February.
The pre-dawn invasion of Ukraine began on February 24. Subsequently, a spike in VVIP migration was observed the next day. At least 60 private jets were leaving Russia on February 25.
Data published by the platform suggests private jets flew to 135 destinations in 52 countries in February.
French President Emmanuel Macron has been leading diplomatic efforts and held multiple talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a last-ditch effort to deescalate the tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Incidentally, France was also the most favourite destination for the VVIPs flying out of Russia, with 105 private jets making a touchdown in the country.
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Switzerland was second with 104 flights headed towards it, and the United Kingdom, with 71 flights headed towards it, was third. "Warm weather destinations like Cyprus and the Maldives were also popular," Ian Petchenik, Flightradar24's director of communications, observed in a blog post.
The sudden migration of high-flying Russians amid the sanctions did not go unnoticed as several politicians expressed concerns. "Alexey Mordashov, the third richest person in Russia, worth $23 billion, owns a Bombardier Global 6000 private jet and a $500 million yacht that has been sailing in the Seychelles region for more than 10 days," US Senator Bernie Sanders wrote on Twitter.
