Millions of Russian-speaking former citizens of the Soviet Union play a key part in the Russian economy by sending billions of rubles back to their own republics while they work in Russia

Some of the workers build dachas in the Moscow region, while others drive trolleybuses in Moscow, sell vegetables in open markets or bring in the harvest in agricultural regions. For the many families of these laborers, the paychecks are their key to survival. About a quarter of the households in Armenia and Azerbaijan are dependent on transfers from family members working in Russia, said Zhanna Zaionchkovskaya, head of the Academy of Sciences' Center for Migration Studies. Families in other republics, including Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and Tajikistan, also count on the money, but there are no reliable figures on the amounts involved, she said. Nationalities Minister Vladimir Zorin said last year that 2 million Armenian and 1.5 million Azeri migrants are in Russia, while the next-largest groups are from Ukraine, Moldova and Tajikistan. But most of the migrants are not registered in Russia, leaving them open to exploitation and extortion from employers and law-enforcement agencies. Many of the workers are ethnic Russians unable to get citizenship since the government made it more difficult last year. Many have been living and working in the country for years. The law on foreigners, introduced in November, is intended to either legalize these workers or kick them out.