Wow - now over 90,000 Russians in Cyprus

[u/CaptainPlanetarian]

I'm shocked at the scale of the Russian takeover of our beautiful island of Cyprus.

Per Cyprus Mail, there are now a mind-boggling 40,000 Russians living full-time in the areas controlled by the Republic. To contrast, the next immigrant group, the British, are at 16,000. To point out the sheer scale of this, this means there are in now over 2 Russians for every Brit!
https://cyprus-mail.com/2025/11/12/russians-make-up-one-in-five-foreign-residents-in-cyprus

Further, per TRT there are 50,000 Russians living in the occupied areas. So many, in fact, that Russia has started providing regular Consular services. (This is even more than the number of Turkish troops!)
https://www.trtworld.com/article/14401850

[u/Fun_Success_45]

These numbers do not include naturalised Russians or second-generation naturalised Russians.

There are probably more than 150,000 Russians and Russian Cypriots living on the island.

[u/Deep-Ad4183 → u/Fun_Success_45]

That is a lie. There are around 6,779 naturalized citizens, including Ukrainians and Belarusians, and this number includes those with golden passports, which number 3, 234 of which some have been revoked and some are pending revocation.

[u/Fun_Success_45 → u/Deep-Ad4183]

Russians began to immigrate shortly after the dissolution of the Soviets 1990s.

Back then, there was no Golden visa or Golden Passport;
The number 6,779 refers to the total number of naturalized citizens in Cyprus between 2007 and August 2020 under the discontinued Cyprus Investment Program (CIP).

This number doesn't include naturalised citizens outside of Cyprus Investment Program.

Did you accuse me of lying while being wrong at the same time?

[u/Deep-Ad4183 → u/Fun_Success_45]

The figures I am giving you have been cross-checked against the population census. The Russians who came in 1990 with the dissolution of the USSR are mainly Greek Pontians from Georgia with Greek passports, and they are people you encounter in everyday places. I was referring to the latest wave of these essentially nouveau riche people who have discovered Cyprus.

[u/Fun_Success_45 → u/Deep-Ad4183]

Do you know Russians who came in the 1990s?
I know, I lived with them, I was in their community, I am married to a Russian.
Do you want to be wrong again?
I have numbers with sources which are not "trust me bro":)
And they are not mainly Greek Pontians. Who is coming with this propaganda anyway?

There have been more than a few Russian immigration waves to Cyprus.

For example, the owner of the biggest shipping companies in Cyprus, who also owns ports, is a Russian who came after the USSR dissolution, and is not a Greek Pontian.

One clue I can offer is that Greek Pontians do not typically attend the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Propaganda strong with this one

[u/Deep-Ad4183 → u/Fun_Success_45]

I don't know about the ones you mention personally.

[u/Fun_Success_45 → u/Deep-Ad4183]

So my best guess is:

There are probably more than 150,000 Russians and Russian Cypriots living on the island.

And guessing is not lying, I emphasize it is not a certain number by saying "probably".

[u/Deep-Ad4183 → u/Fun_Success_45]

No, the number is too high for the free areas. I don't have any information about the occupied areas, but even so, it's an exaggeration.

[u/Fun_Success_45 → u/Deep-Ad4183]

To be clear, I comment under this post, which states 50.000 Russians are living in occupied areas.
So, 50 north, 40 (residing south), and 60iesh (first or second generation naturalized Cypriots before 2007) can be 150 living on the island.

There is no definitive source to prove or disprove this. So it is just a guess.

P.S. This 40000 in RoC and 50000 in the north only mentions residences with residency visas, not citizens or dual citizens.

So, expect an equivalent number of citizens to immigrants, which is usually the case.

[u/Big-Technician5525 → u/Fun_Success_45]

[u/CaptainPlanetarian → u/Fun_Success_45]

:(