Russians relocate to Georgia as the war continues in Ukraine

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Its citizens met Moscow’s so-called “special operation” with different reactions. Many Russians, opposed to the authority’s decision, had no other choice but to leave the country. Most of them relocated to Georgia, Russia’s neighbor.

Nikolai Kireev is one of the refugees. He moved to Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, with his family. Kireev stated that the evening when he read the news about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he understood that he had to leave the country with his wife and three-year-old son as soon as possible. He now owns a bookshop in Tbilisi aimed at Russian exiles.

Hundreds of thousands of Russians have moved to Georgia since February 2022. Their number increased after Russia announced “partial mobilization” in September. Georgia’s interior ministry reported that of Russian citizens who crossed the border, 112,000 remained in the country for the date of November 1, 2022. Georgia itself has a population of 3.7 million.

Georgians met Russian emigrants with suspicion  

Georgia has deep historical ties with Russia. The two countries relationship is complicated since the former spent two centuries as part of the first Russian Empire and later of the Soviet Union. While Georgians always strived to gain independence from their northern neighbor, when freedom came at last, it was at a great cost. Russia encouraged and backed separatists in the two Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the 1990s, expelling the ethnic Georgian population and making them refugees in their own country. In 2008, a brief war with Russia only increased the number of the latter, making Georgians more bitter.

Now, as thousands of Russians move into the country, buying houses and starting businesses, many citizens eye them with suspicion. They consider Russia, their enemy. Besides, Georgian public opinion is broadly pro-Ukrainian. On the streets of Tbilisi, anti-Russian graffiti takes a significant place.

Consequently, Russians who moved to Tbilisi had to segregate in their own spaces. They have their own cafes, shops, and restaurants, where the majority of the clientele are refugees from Russia.