More Russians settle in the EU with each year of war, legal residents now 876,600

The number of Russian citizens legally residing in the European Union has grown with each year since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. An analysis of Eurostat data shows the figure reached 876,600 by the end of 2025.

Since the invasion began in early 2022, the number has grown by 105,000. In 2021, some 771,800 Russians held valid temporary or permanent residence permits across EU member states — an increase of 13.6 percent from that figure.

Germany hosts the largest community, with 218,000 residents, followed by Spain with 116,800 and Estonia with 78,400.

Southern Europe has seen the sharpest growth. Over the period, Spain issued residence permits to 44,400 Russian nationals and France to 13,700, while Cyprus and Portugal saw their Russian-born populations increase 2.5 and 3.5 times respectively.

The picture is not the same everywhere, however. Latvia, Estonia and the Czech Republic have recorded the largest drops in Russian residents, driven by tough migration policies and, in the Baltic states, security concerns over large Russian-speaking communities.

Significant communities have also formed outside the EU. In Serbia the Russian population rose from roughly 5,000 before the invasion to 61,900 by the end of 2025. By spring of this year, Kazakhstan had absorbed more than 107,000 Russian migrants, while Armenia hosted 43,500 and Georgia 70,000.

Turkey drew large numbers in the immediate post-invasion period but later tightened residency rules. By June, valid Russian permits there had fallen to 75,900, half the 2023 peak.

Researchers tracking emigration patterns have identified at least four distinct waves since February 2022. The most recent, running from this spring, has been sparked by renewed claims of impending mobilisation for Moscow's all-out war in Ukraine.

Anastasia Burakova, a lawyer and founder of Kovcheg, a legal assistance project for Russians abroad, said everyone now understands they have no future in Russia, with no image of the future and no understanding of what will happen in six months or a year. She added that risks linked to mobilisation and conscription are felt very personally.

Surveys by independent researchers show the emigres are predominantly young couples, often without children, with both partners under 36. They tend to have high levels of education and are concentrated in professions either vulnerable to political repression — journalists, human rights workers, political analysts — or in high international demand, particularly IT, engineering and academia. Around 20 percent of those who left do not hold university degrees, and some 18 percent are studying or plan to study abroad.

The economic impact on host countries has been visible yet uneven. In Armenia and Georgia, the sudden influx of people and capital contributed to GDP growth of between 9 and 9.4 percent at its peak between 2022 and 2024, according to analysis by the CASE Center research institute. Rather than competing for local jobs, most Russian migrants have worked remotely or set up their own businesses.

Some have also returned, though the scale remains disputed. The independent OutRush sociological project estimated that no more than 8 percent of emigrants had returned by summer 2024. Russia's own official resettlement programme recorded a historic low in 2025, drawing only 26,700 people into the country. The longer the war lasts, the more permanent this growing Russian presence across Europe appears to become.