It was just an internet rumor: Russia might seize bank accounts of foreigners in the country. But since Russia invaded Ukraine, so many previously unthinkable things had occurred that Jonas Ness, a North Dakota native living outside Moscow, didn’t want to chance it.
So Mr. Ness withdrew as much as he could from a U.S. dollar account at his Russian bank. He then took an overnight train to St. Petersburg and hopped on a daylong bus ride to one of the nearest borders. “I took hard cash to Estonia,” said Mr. Ness, a private-aviation technician. “I wanted to secure my funds, especially since I am a foreigner from a sanctioning country.”
As more than two million Ukrainians flee war in their homeland, a much smaller, quieter exodus is taking place from Russia. There are no statistics tracking foreigners fleeing Russia, and their journeys are for the most…
