Exodus of Russian Billionaires: A Look at the Wealthy Who Fled Post-Invasion of Ukraine – Proekt

According to an independent media source, Proekt, dozens of affluent Russians, including individuals from President Vladimir Putin’s close associates, departed the country in the initial days following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Proekt’s examination of leaked border crossing records indicates that 49 out of the 200 Russian billionaires listed by Forbes left the country in late February and March of 2022. Some individuals even left before the invasion commenced, specifically after Putin declared the independence of the self-styled Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics on February 21.

Several of those who fled were present at a notable meeting in the Kremlin on the war’s first day, where Putin urged leading business leaders and heads of state-owned enterprises to «grasp what is unfolding.»

Of the billionaires who chose to leave, nearly one-third—17 in total—relocated to the United Arab Emirates. Others went to Switzerland, Turkey, France, and Cyprus.

The leaked data revealed that some of Putin’s closest allies were among the earliest to exit.

On February 23, Boris Rotenberg, the younger sibling of Putin’s childhood friend and long-time confidant Arkady Rotenberg, traveled to Nice, France.

Mikhail Shelkov, the deputy chairman of the board of VSMPO-AVISMA, a critical supplier of titanium to Russia’s defense sector, also departed the next day. Shelkov reportedly has strong connections with Sergei Chemezov, who heads the state defense conglomerate Rostec.

Among those who quickly left were the founders of Alfa Group and Alfa Bank. Petr Aven reached Italy on February 25, with Mikhail Fridman and German Khan following shortly after.

Viktor Vekselberg, their former business partner in the oil industry and head of Renova Group, relocated to Turkey.

Leonid Mikhelson, a significant shareholder in Novatek, and Vadim Moshkovich, the founder of Rusagro—who was arrested in March 2025—traveled to Cyprus.

Andrei Melnichenko, the founder of EuroChem and the Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK), who also possesses a UAE passport, arrived in Dubai on February 25. Dmitry Pumpyansky, the owner of the Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) at the time, followed on February 28.

Proekt noted a subsequent wave of departures around the mutiny on June 23, 2023, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenaries. Between June 22 and 26, 15 billionaires from the Forbes list fled Russia.

During Prigozhin’s uprising, Arkady Rotenberg seemed to have traveled to Azerbaijan for urgent business, while tycoons Alexei Mordashov and Roman Abramovich reportedly made their way to Turkey. On June 25, photos of Abramovich in Tel Aviv emerged, circulating widely in Israeli media.