On the evening of February 23, just a few hours before Putin's army crossed into Ukrainian territory, a message from Amazon arrived in the inbox of Vladimir Smirnov. A software engineer position in Ireland required a work permit. When the U.S. intelligence first raised concerns about Putin's plans for war in Ukraine, Smirnov was interviewing for the position at Amazon.
The fact that war was imminent became clear to Smirnov two days earlier when Putin recognized the independence of the Luhansk People's Republics, which have been under Russian control.
He gave his verdict to the nation and declared war.
It is one thing to know that war has been declared. It's one thing to wake up on February 24 to the news of bombings.
Smirnov knew that he needed to leave Russia. He went to take a COVID-19 test so he could fly to Georgia as soon as possible, after which he would travel on to Ireland.
The 22-year-old chief executive of the startup WeLoveNoCode decided to leave Russia. Shevchenko bought a plane ticket to Portugal because he was afraid martial law would be introduced in Russia. I'm fit for military service, but I don't want to kill innocent people.
Natalia Chebotar, a former top manager at Yandex and one of the leading Russian specialists in edtech, left Russia with her family when Putin ordered the placement of all nuclear deterrence forces in a special regime. When one by one, IT companies and services began leaving Russia, Yuri Malyugin, a former lead product designer at technology company SberAutoTech, bought a ticket to Georgia, where Russians can stay for up to a year without a visa.
A user experience designer from Moscow who wishes to remain anonymous said that his work computer became useless a couple of days into the war, and his company could no longer receive payments from foreign colleagues.
The designer said that the last straw was when they tried to transfer the salary to someone else. The city was under attack and a curfew had been imposed. We received a message from him that said he had no money left. We heard nothing more from him after we saw the mobile crematoria approaching my house.
The Russian Association for Electronic Communications estimates that some 70,000 IT specialists fled Russia in February and March. Russia may lose 100,000 specialists in April due to high ticket prices and the need to tie up affairs in Moscow, according to experts. More than 30 countries closed their airspace to Russian aircraft after the start of the war, while Boeing and Airbus stopped servicing Russian fleets. The team from Google is leaving Russia. Arrival relocated its Russian employees to other countries. The team from the Russian city of Perm was transferred to Amsterdam by the Miro platform.
After February 24, charter flights began taking IT professionals out of Russia.
The second wave of emigration is expected in April. The special attention of Russia's FSB, a government organization associated with contract killings and poisonings of Russians who oppose Putin's regime, has been attracted by departing tech IT specialists.
IT specialists crossing the Russian border were subject to interrogation once the war started. A Moscow-based artist recalls how he was taken to a room and questioned by an officer from the Russian Federal Security Service, or the FSB, after he was stopped by customs officers at passport control in Sheremetyevo Airport. He was asked about his opinion on the special military operation in Ukraine and whether he knew anything about the hackers.
A staff member in plain clothes questioned a manager from another IT company about his knowledge of white, gray or black. I said that I wasn't involved with hacking, and he said that it was a pity.
“IT people who have fled Russia do not want to waste their abilities on war and other crap that negatively affects humanity. IT is the internet, and the internet is freedom.” Nik Shevchenko, WeLoveNoCode CEO
A channel titled "Russian Border Control" appeared on Telegram at the time of writing, with more than 24,000 subscribers, to allow users to share their experiences. The administrator of the channel said he posted more than 500 border crossing stories in the course of a month, most of which featured the IT industry.
Everyone is allowed through the border, but if guards hear the word "IT", they will take people away.
There were six of us flying out of the airport in Mineralnye Vody, but two of us uttered the phrases software tester and tester.
The traveler who asked not to be named said that once the war started in Ukraine, tech workers crossing the Russian border became commonplace. One IT specialist said his devices were taken away from him, with the promise to return them upon arrival.
These inspections have not been commented on by the FSB. The former employee of Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs said he didn't know anything about it. He said that the checks can only be explained if they concern public officials. The ongoing registration of IT specialists at the border looks like an orchestrated campaign that, like the war, may quickly escalate to something worse.
The public relations manager from Moscow said she left Russia on March 8 and was told by the border guard that she was not an IT specialist. You should have said that. We only hold IT specialists.
A computer monitor with an open excel sheet was turned toward him during his interrogation, so he could see the border guard entering data.
The rise of the IT sector in Russia has been attributed to the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev. During his visit to the U.S., he toured Silicon Valley, dined with Obama, and marveled at the possibilities of the recently released iPhone.
The Skolkovo Innovation Center is between California's IT mecca and the Soviet science cities. A technocrat was at the top. The Skolkovo Foundation has a new president. The head of the Federal Tax Service, Mikhail Mishustin, became Russia's prime minister after he digitized the bureaucratic system under his control. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wanted the capital to be a technological city like Singapore.
The rhetoric of the authorities has changed since February 24 when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. The possibility of the death penalty returning to Russia is no longer precluded by the fact that the most important thing in life is love. Arkady Dvorkovich left his post as head of Skolkovo after giving an anti-war speech. Journalists found Anatoly Chubais trying to withdraw money from an ATM in Istanbul. On the Moscow metro, people no longer have to wear masks, which allows the facial recognition system to identify the faces of citizens who attend anti-war protests. Russians can be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison under a recently enacted law.
Police officers block access to Red Square during a protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russians can be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for violating the anti-fake news law. Kirill Kudryavtsev is the image credit.
10% of margin revenue in March will go to Ukrainian charities working with refugees and the wounded. The startup's actions could lead to a 20-year prison sentence under the treason article of Russia's Criminal Code.
I feel very sorry for the people who are dying. I don't care if I'm arrested.
According to a migration specialist who asked not to be named for fear of retribution from the Russian government, interrogations at the border are another way of intimidating citizens. Most of them are IT professionals. What does this mean for the government? The migration specialist said they are extremists and enemies of the state.
The old life they knew in a country that was abandoned by companies like Adobe, Apple, General Electric, IBM, Intel, Mastercard, Visa and others no longer exists.
Russian IT people face a new reality, according to a senior machine learning engineer who worked in Moscow for an American company.
Putin signed a decree on March 8 to encourage IT companies to stay in Russia. Income tax will be reduced from 3% to zero and IT workers under the age of 27 will receive deferments from military service, a major incentive in a country where all men aged 18 to 27 are subject to Russia's compulsory military service.
The leading online education platform in Russia, Skillbox, noted a sharp rise in interest in courses relating to programming.
Those who have left Russia are not interested in concessions for IT.
Russia's attractiveness for corporate investment has been lost for a long time, according to a lead product designer. We won't have access to familiar technologies. Software won't work. We are talking about a gradual reduction to 10 to 15 years ago.
The examples of North Korea and Iran show that it is possible to create new technologies within closed countries, but they will not go beyond the country's borders.
WeLoveNoCode CEO Shevchenko predicts a similar lunge backward in Russia's tech capabilities, which would mean we could return for a while to ordering a taxi over the phone.
Shevchenko interviews Russians for jobs every day. The people who left Russia after February 24 have better skills than those who don't. The internet is freedom.
According to the recruitment service HeadHunter, the government demand for IT specialists in wartime Russia has increased by 100% since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Natalia Chebotar, a former top manager at Yandex, said that the shortage of specialists will be easy to fix.
She said she was aware of the federal program for the digital economy for three months. The experts are leaving so what should be done to prevent the indicators from decreasing? IT specialists are leaving the country. I think it could happen in a few days or weeks. Everything that I predicted has come true.
The company owned by businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin is believed to have interfered with the U.S. presidential election. On the same day, Putin's press secretary called Prigozhin's project a groundless rumor and explained that a ban on the exit of citizens would be a violation. Putin's spokesman stated on February 20 that Russia had no plans to invade Ukraine.
According to our president, those leaving Russia are people who already live in the West.
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