Foreign russians Feel Less and Less Homesick for Their “motherland”

In 2025, russia’s program to resettle its compatriots suffered a record failure. According to official data, only 10,000 people moved to the aggressor country in 11 months – the lowest figure in the program’s 15-year history. For comparison, last year the number of participants was three times higher.

The reasons for the decline are obvious: the war against Ukraine, international sanctions, economic stagnation, and a policy of self-isolation have made life in russia unacceptable even for those whom the kremlin calls “true russians”.  moscow’s ambitious plans to return half a million migrants by 2030 have been thwarted. The statistics shows a sharp decline: in the first year of full-scale war, 64,800 people took advantage of the program; in 2023 – 45,200; in 2024, – 31,700. By the end of 2025, the figures are worse than ever.

Despite declarations of  “care” for compatriots, russia’s resettlement system itself is based on restrictions and discrimination. In particular, Kaluga region refuses to accept pensioners, while moscow and st. petersburg are completely closed to migrants. In 2024, the authorities introduced a new category – “repatriates” – allowing them not to know the russian language and live in large cities, but depriving them of financial compensation. This step did not change the general trend: fewer and fewer people want to move to the aggressor country.

russia, which sought to present itself as a “motherland for its own people”, has in fact turned into a cannibalistic state that repels even those it tries to lure with new passports.