  Highly skilled professionals' forced migration from Ukraine was triggered by
the conflict in Ukraine in 2014 and amplified by the Russian invasion in 2022.
Here, we utilize LinkedIn estimates and official refugee data from the World
Bank and the United Nations Refugee Agency, to understand which are the main
pull factors that drive the decision-making process of the host country. We
identify an ongoing and escalating exodus of educated individuals, largely
drawn to Poland and Germany, and underscore the crucial role of pre-existing
networks in shaping these migration flows. Key findings include a strong
correlation between LinkedIn's estimates of highly educated Ukrainian displaced
people and official UN refugee statistics, pointing to the significance of
prior relationships with Ukraine in determining migration destinations. We
train a series of multilinear regression models and the SHAP method revealing
that the existence of a support network is the most critical factor in choosing
a destination country, while distance is less important. Our main findings show
that the migration patterns of Ukraine's highly skilled workforce, and their
impact on both the origin and host countries, are largely influenced by
preexisting networks and communities. This insight can inform strategies to
tackle the economic challenges posed by this loss of talent and maximize the
benefits of such migration for both Ukraine and the receiving nations.
