Russian lawmaker says it’s best for citizens who left country to return

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Russian lawmaker early Monday said that it is best for citizens who left the country since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war to return home, because such an opportunity may not arise in the future.

“A foreign land will not become a homeland. More than half of Russian citizens who left after February 2022 have already returned to Russia. This process is ongoing,” Vyacheslav Volodin, head of the Russian State Duma, said on Telegram.

Volodin argued that maybe some of those who left Russia have realized the importance of a place “where family, relatives, friends, and mother tongue are,” saying that some may have also returned to Russia after realizing that a few states can provide comfortable conditions for living.

“Some were influenced by the Russophobic policy of Western states. Many of those who left faced second-class treatment. When they left, they thought that they could sit quietly and calmly. It turned out not to be so,” Volodin further said.

Volodin also argued that Russian citizens remaining in the West “need to think about where they went, what they found and what awaits them.”

“Today, there is an opportunity to return. Tomorrow, with the hysteria that is being whipped up in Western Europe, it may no longer be possible,” he added.