The massive “brain drain” suffered by Russia due to the war with Ukraine

Outside Parliament GeorgiaYevgeny Lyamin loads boxes of clothing and food parcels onto a truck bound for Ukraine.

He is one of more than 25,000 Russians who have come to Georgia since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russians have had difficulty finding affordable accommodation in all major cities. Many can be seen wandering around the capital Tbilisi with their bags and often even their pets.

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A blue and yellow ribbon is attached to the lapel of Yevgeny’s trench coat, the colors of the Ukrainian flag. It was these tapes that got him arrested at an anti-war protest in Russia, a day after Putin launched his war against Ukraine.

“I understood that the best way to act against the Putin regime would be to emigrate from Russia,” says the 23-year-old political science graduate. “It is my responsibility to do everything possible to help the Ukrainians.”

The exodus does not stop in Georgia. The EU, US, UK and Canada have closed their airspace to Russian flights, so they are heading to countries where flights are still allowed and visas are not required, such as Turkey, Central Asia and South Asia. Caucasus. Many have fled to Armenia.

According to estimates by a Russian economist, up to 200,000 Russians have left their country since the beginning of the war.

Belarusians are also leaving, fleeing Western repression and sanctions imposed on the government of authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko for collaborating with Vladimir Putin.

That has caused prices for last-minute flights and rental accommodation to rise in major host cities such as Istanbul and Armenia’s capital Yerevan.

“A one-way flight to Istanbul cost me and my husband more than our combined monthly income,” said Anya, who declined to give her last name.

For her, the moment of decision came with a new law of “betrayal of the state” which entered into force in Russia. Anyone who expresses her support for Ukraine could face prison sentences of up to 20 years, and Anya believed she could be targeted.

“The fear of closed borders, political repression and forced military service is in our DNA. I remember my grandmother telling me stories about the state of fear they lived in during the Stalin era and now we are experiencing it,” he said.

It is estimated that 25,000 Russians have left their country for Georgia.

“The only way we can protest is to leave the country”

Many of the new emigrants are technology industry professionals who can work remotely. A game developer I met in a cafe in Tbilisi told me that he and most of the people he knew did not agree with Russian policy and now knew that any protest would be violently suppressed.

“The only way we can protest is to leave the country, take our skills and money with us. Almost everyone in our circle has made a similar decision,” said Igor (not his real name). He plans to leave the Georgian capital, because he doesn’t feel welcome here.

There have been numerous reports of Airbnb hosts refusing to rent their properties to Russian and Belarusian citizens.

“I don’t accept Russians or Belarusians,” a rental home owner told a Belarusian couple, who shared their exchange with the BBC. “You don’t have time for vacations, rebel against your corrupt governments,” he snapped at them.

“They think we’re running away from Russia because Apple Pay doesn’t work there anymore,” Igor complained. “We are not leaving for comfort, we have lost everything there, we are basically refugees. Putin’s geopolitics have destroyed our lives,” he says.

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The arrival of the Russians in Georgia is not always welcome.

not always welcome

In Tbilisi’s public service hall, newcomers are registering companies or applying for residency.

Kristina and Nikita, Information Technology specialists from Minsk, the capital of Belarus, have registered as entrepreneurs. That will allow them to open Georgian bank accounts.

“We don’t support our governments, which is obvious because we ran away. We want to be safe here. But we are being bullied just because of our nationality, I need to hide my country of origin, I don’t feel comfortable when people ask me where I am from.” Kristin said.

Since the beginning of the war, Tbilisi has witnessed some of the largest demonstrations in support of Ukraine. A recent poll found that 87% of Georgians see the war in Ukraine as their own war with Russia.

But many Georgians are concerned about this dramatic influx of Russians, as it is less than 14 years since Putin invaded Georgia.

Some fear that President Putin may claim that Russian citizens abroad need protection, because that was his excuse to justify sending troops to the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia in 2008. To date, 20% of the territory Georgian remains under Russian occupation.

Some 30,000 Georgians listened to Ukrainian President Vlododymyr Zelensky during a massive protest.

However, tech entrepreneur Lev Kalashnikov believes that Georgia will benefit from what it claims is the biggest brain drain in modern Russian history. Kalashnikov opened a group for expats on the Telegram messaging app while he was queuing.

“There were 50 people in front of me and 50 behind me. They became my first subscribers and now we have almost 4,000 members,” he said.

Members of the group share tips on where to find accommodation, how to open bank accounts, and whether or not it’s safe to speak Russian in public.

Yevgeny Lyamin is already learning Georgian, practicing the unique Georgian alphabet with an exercise book.

“I am against Putin, I am against the war. I still cannot withdraw money from my Russian bank account, but that is nothing like the problems that Ukrainians face,” he says.

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Source: Elcomercio