The New Geography of the Russian Elite
European cities were playgrounds for Russia’s superwealthy. But sanctions have closed off much of the world.
Before the invasion of Ukraine, private jets taking off from Moscow flew to Paris, Milan and Geneva more often than anywhere else. Departures from Russia, Feb. 1 to Feb. 24. Note: Origins and destinations are shown, but not specific flight paths.
But after Feb. 24, as Europe started to close its airspace to Russian planes, wealthy Russians started to fly elsewhere: to Central Asia and the Middle East, most of all.Departures from Russia, Feb. 25 to Apr. 21
By May, a new geography of the Russian elite had taken shape, data on nearly 2,000 flights analyzed by The New York Times shows. That world has one clear center: Dubai. Departures from Russia, Apr. 22 to May 8
They call it “Dubaisk.”
After the Russian invasion, the threat of closing borders, international sanctions and imprisonment drove tens of thousands to flee Russia.
Journalists, activists and tech workers flocked to Armenia, Georgia and Turkey — relatively affordable, nearby countries that allow Russians to enter without visas. In Europe, countries like Germany and Latvia took in Russians fearing persecution at home.
But another cohort of Russians — including business magnates and celebrities — made Dubai, the biggest city on the Persian Gulf, their main destination.
Before the invasion, only 3 percent of private flights departing Russia flew the United Arab Emirates, primarily to Dubai, according to a Times analysis of thousands of records from RadarBox.com, a flight tracking company. That figure rose to 6 percent in the weeks after the invasion began, and 14 percent by May.
Before sanctions
European cities were favorite destinations for Russian private jets before the invasion...
After sanctions
...but were replaced in the weeks after by locations in Central Asia and the Middle East.
8% of flights
France
Switzerland
6%
6.1%
United Arab Emirates
Britain
Germany
4%
3.6%
Turkey
Top European
countries
Kazakhstan
2.8%
Azerbaijan
2.3%
2%
0
Before sanctions
After sanctions
European cities were favorite destinations for Russian private jets before the invasion...
...but were replaced in the weeks after by locations in Central Asia and the Middle East.
8% of flights
France
Switzerland
United Arab Emirates
6%
6.1%
Britain
Germany
4%
3.6%
Turkey
Top European
countries
Kazakhstan
2.8%
Azerbaijan
2.3%
2%
0
Before sanctions
After sanctions
European cities were favorite destinations for Russian private jets before the invasion...
...but were replaced in the weeks after by locations in Central Asia and the Middle East.
8% of flights
France
Switzerland
United Arab Emirates
6%
6.1%
Britain
Germany
4%
Turkey
3.6%
Top European
countries
Kazakhstan
2.8%
Azerbaijan
2.3%
2%
0
The records provide striking evidence that Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine have succeeded in drastically changing the lives and habits of the Russian elite. The analysis captures both privately owned jets and jets leased by commercial companies, although the flight patterns suggest most of the jets are privately owned.
Before the invasion on Feb. 24, even amid the deep freeze in relations between Russia and the West, luxury European playgrounds in Britain, France and Switzerland offered havens for Russia’s superrich. But now, with European airspace closed to Russian jets, and European countries seizing the assets of Russian oligarchs, the days of flying to Geneva for a weekend shopping trip appear to be over.
Instead, a wartime geography of the reach of Russia’s wealthy emerges in flight patterns analyzed by The Times. Kazakhstan and Turkey, countries that did not join sanctions against Russia and that have provided a home for Russian businesses leaving the country, have become leading destinations. Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic that still nurtures close ties to both Russia and Ukraine, has also benefited from increased private jet travel.
But no country has seen as big a jump in wealthy Russian travelers as the United Arab Emirates, where the resort and financial center of Dubai has emerged as the main hub connecting Moscow to the luxury and business opportunities still on offer from the rest of the world.
“Lots of people don’t have a choice,” said Daria Poligaeva, a Russian journalist who moved to Dubai several years ago and is now seeing a wave of compatriots arriving. “It’s one of the few places where you can now transfer your business, where there’s a market, where you can develop your business, and where you still have a market of international corporations,” she added.
Flights from Russia
before and after sanctions
Europe
Other countries
BEFORE
SANCTIONS
AFTER
SANCTIONS
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
BRITAIN
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Rep.
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Israel
Italy
Kazakhstan
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Maldives
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Seychelles
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
U.A.E.
United States
Uzbekistan
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
Germany
Greece
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
Israel
Italy
Kazakhstan
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
Maldives
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
Poland
CANCELLED
Qatar
Romania
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Seychelles
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
South Korea
CANCELLED
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
U.A.E
United States
Uzbekistan
Flights from Russia before and after sanctions
Europe
Other countries
Before SANCTIONS
AFTER SANCTIONS
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
BRITAIN
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Israel
Italy
Kazakhstan
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Maldives
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Seychelles
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
016
051
043
023
004
078
002
039
011
004
029
043
123
080
012
009
003
033
064
067
066
016
003
031
006
001
015
005
004
008
005
052
004
002
002
003
020
010
118
074
016
153
020
024
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
BRITAIN
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Rep.
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Israel
Italy
Kazakhstan
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Maldives
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Seychelles
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistann
017
001
040
011
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
001
001
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
016
001
086
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
007
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
004
CANCELLED
001
001
002
001
001
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
002
CANCELLED
001
001
094
001
102
002
021
Flights from Russia before and after sanctions
Europe
Other countries
Before SANCTIONS
AFTER SANCTIONS
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
BRITAIN
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Israel
Italy
Kazakhstan
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Maldives
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Seychelles
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
016
051
043
023
004
078
002
039
011
004
029
043
123
080
012
009
003
033
064
067
066
016
003
031
006
001
015
005
004
008
005
052
004
002
002
003
020
010
118
074
016
153
020
024
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
BRITAIN
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Israel
Italy
Kazakhstan
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Maldives
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Seychelles
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
017
001
040
011
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
001
001
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
016
001
086
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
007
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
004
CANCELLED
001
001
002
001
001
CANCELLED
CANCELLED
002
CANCELLED
001
001
094
001
102
002
021
Multinational companies such as Goldman Sachs and Google have relocated Moscow-based employees to Dubai since the invasion. One of Russia's best-known restaurateurs is working on a new project in Dubai. And a Dubai-based wellness company recently opened what it says is the city’s first banya, or Russian sauna — just in time for summer’s 110-degree days.
“We had to tweak it a little bit for Dubai,” said the company’s chief executive, Dominique Laird, estimating that 90 percent of her banya customers were Russian. “You can’t drink vodka in the steam room. They definitely can’t be naked.”
During the May holidays in Russia, bookended by Labor Day on May 1 and World War II Victory Day on May 9, a parade of Russian celebrities descended on Dubai. Most striking among them: Dmitri Kiselyov, the host of the marquee weekly propaganda show on Russian state television, in which he regularly threatens the West with nuclear annihilation. In Dubai, he was photographed, cold drink in hand, in short, pink swimming trunks.
The Times’s analysis shows that even amid the tensions between Moscow and the West in the weeks leading up to the invasion of Ukraine, private jets were flocking from Russia to Europe. In the first three weeks of February, their most popular destinations were France, Switzerland, Britain and Germany.
After the invasion on Feb. 24, private jets continued to fly out of Russia — but, by late April, virtually none were heading to Europe. Instead, beyond the United Arab Emirates, they have also made for Turkey, which has offered a safe haven for Russian oligarchs’ yachts and jets even as it sells lethal drones to Ukraine’s military.
Kazakhstan, the biggest country in Central Asia by area, has become another hub for Russian business. It is where the American consulting giant McKinsey initially relocated hundreds of employees of its Moscow office as it exited the Russian market this spring, and it was the third-most popular destination for private jets departing Russia after the invasion.
Despite international sanctions and closing airspace, some of Russia’s highest-profile oligarchs kept flying around the world after the invasion, The Times’s analysis suggests.
Dubai has become a focal point for travel, with some business tycoons parking their jets there; more than 70 remain parked in the United Arab Emirates or were only returned to Russia after being stuck there for weeks, the analysis suggests.
Feb. 16
Al Maktoum
International Airport
March 31
Parked
airplanes
Private jets
Feb. 16
March 31
Al Maktoum
International Airport
Parked
airplanes
Private jets
Feb. 16
March 31
Al Maktoum
International Airport
Parked
airplanes
Private jets
A plane owned by Roman Abramovich, an oligarch and former owner of the Chelsea soccer club, flew to Dubai just days after sanctions against Russian individuals kicked in:
Path of Roman Abramovich Jet
Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
Previous flights
The jet left Moscow
for Dubai on March 4,
just one day after
the sanctions.
Basel
Nice
EUROPE
Moscow
Tel Aviv
AFRICA
Dubai is the last
recorded location.
Previous flights
The jet left Moscow
for Dubai on March 4,
just one day after
the sanctions.
Basel
EUROPE
Nice
Moscow
Tel Aviv
AFRICA
Dubai is the last
recorded location.
Moscow
March 4
Previous flights
The jet left Moscow for Dubai on March 4, just one day after the sanctions.
EUROPE
Basel
Nice
March 4
Tel Aviv
Dubai is the last recorded location.
AFRICA
In June, the American authorities obtained a warrant for two of Mr. Abramovich’s planes, including the Dreamliner. They alleged that the plane had violated American sanctions when it was flown to Russia on March 4.