Estimates suggest at least 2500 scientists have left Russia since the beginning of the war

Brain drain

Source: © Cemile Bingol/Getty Images

Analysis of Orcid database finds Russian scientists are now leaving for universities in Central Asia, Israel and the UAE

At least 2500 scientists have severed ties with Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to an analysis carried out by the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

The data was sourced from Orcid, an international database bringing together information on more than 20 million scientists from around the world. According to Novaya Gazeta, Orcid registration is mandatory for publishing employees of large Russian universities therefore the penetration of the database into the Russian academic environment was ‘quite high’.