Vladimir Putin has witnessed a steady decline in the number of scientists training and staying in Russia, a close ally to the Russian leader has revealed.
Security official Nikolai Patrushev noted that the scientific sector has lost around 25 percent of its members over the past two decades, leaving the country in a rut when it comes to becoming technologically independent.
The brain drain has only intensified in the aftermath of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Speaking at a retreat in the Siberian city of Tomsk, Petrushev said: “A serious obstacle to achieving technological independence is the shortage of qualified scientific, engineering and labour personnel.
“The total number of personnel engaged in research and development in Russia has decreased by a quarter over the past 20 years.”
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Following the invasion nearly two years ago, hundreds of Russians fled to neighbouring countries to escape conscription.
Finland, Georgia, Mongolia and Kazhakstan were among the nations that experienced a surge in migration from Russia in the months after the war started, with many citing their opposition to the conflict as a reason for leaving.
The vice president of the Russian Academy of Sciences was quoted in May claiming that Russia had lost approximately 50,000 scientists since 2017.
An investigation from the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta earlier this year identified 270 academics from top Moscow and St. Petersburg universities who had fled Russia since the war in Ukraine started.
The Gazeta reported that over half of the academics, 195 of whom were Russian nationals, specifically left the country because they opposed Putin’s invasion.
In addition to the risk of proscription, academics also faced increasing pressure from the government not to become politically involved.
The Higher School of Economics, which Putin cited in the past as an example of Russian academic excellence, axed 28 members of staff in 2021 for opposing the president’s proposed amendments to the constitution.
The change ultimately reset the number of terms Putin has served so far, allowing him to legally stay in office until 2036.
An intelligence report from the British Defence Ministry released in September 2022 further argued Moscow has been experiencing a certain level of “brain drain” and labour shortage because pf the war.
The report said: “When combined with those reservists who are being mobilised, the domestic economic impact of reduced availability of labour, and the acceleration of ‘brain drain’ is likely to become increasingly significant.”
However, the loss of scientists has been plaguing Moscow long before the start of the invasion, prompting former President Dmitry Medvedev to demand action be taken to persuade professionals to stay in Russia.
Speaking in 2010, he said: “We need to undertake serious efforts, but there are no other options. We can’t lower an iron curtain to prevent a brain drain.”
An analysis from the French Institute of International Relations showed 86 percent of those who left the country since the start of the war is under the age of 45, and 80 percent have a university degree.
