The number of Russian nationals flying abroad grew by 34 per cent during 2017, deputy head of the FSB’s Border Service was quoted as saying in a media report.

"Last year, the volume of passenger traffic at airport border checkpoints grew by almost 34 per cent," Colonel General Igor Shmotkin was quoted in a Tass report.

Taking into account border checkpoints for cars, trains and ships, the number of foreign trips by Russian nationals grew 14 per cent last year, he said.

Last year, the number of Russians crossing the border in or out of the country was almost 20 million more than that of foreign nationals making in-and outbound trips. They crossed the border 64.8 million times last year, while Russian nationals travelled in and of the country 84.3 million times, added the Tass report.