Originally published 2022-03-14.
In the first two weeks after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 Russian citizens crossed into neighbouring Georgia. The figure came from Georgia's own Economy Minister, Levan Davitashvili, on 7 March 2022. People gave different reasons for leaving: fear of arrest for opposing the war, fear that borders would close or that men would be called up, and the sudden collapse of normal life under sanctions. Some Belarusians made similar journeys for similar reasons.
Why Georgia became a first stop
Georgia was an obvious destination for practical reasons. Since 2012 it has let Russian citizens enter without a visa, and the permitted stay was later extended to a full year. There is a land border, flights via third countries were still possible, Russian is widely understood in Tbilisi, and living costs were lower than in western Europe.
The choice was also full of irony. Russia and Georgia fought a short war in August 2008, after which Moscow recognised the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. The two countries have had no formal diplomatic relations since. Many Georgians therefore watched the new arrivals with a mixture of sympathy and suspicion: some saw fellow victims of the Kremlin, others feared that a large Russian community could one day become a pretext for interference.
What the people arriving said
The BBC, which reported the arrivals in March 2022, spoke to Yevgeny Lyamin, a young Russian who had been detained at an anti-war protest in the first days of the invasion. He told the broadcaster that leaving felt like the most useful thing he could do against Putin's government and that he wanted to help Ukrainians from abroad.
A Belarusian woman identified only as Anya described paying more than a month of her and her husband's combined income for one-way tickets to Istanbul. She linked the decision to family memories of Stalin-era fear. She also said that abroad she felt pressure to hide where she came from: "We don't support our governments, which is obvious because we ran away."
Many of the early arrivals had left in a hurry with little cash. Visa and Mastercard had suspended operations in Russia, so Russian-issued cards stopped working abroad, and for a time people struggled to rent flats or pay for hostels in Tbilisi.
How big the exodus became
The March figure turned out to be only the beginning. By early April, estimates of Russians who had passed through or settled in Georgia were already approaching 100,000, and estimates for Russia as a whole spoke of more than 300,000 departures by mid-March. Unofficial numbers that circulated in the first three weeks, including one suggesting 200,000 had already left Russia, could not be checked at the time and should be read with caution.
A second, much larger wave followed Vladimir Putin's announcement of a "partial mobilisation" on 21 September 2022. Within days, queues of cars stretched for more than 30 kilometres on the Russian side of the Georgian border, and many men reportedly crossed on foot or by bicycle. By early October estimates of the total number of people who had left Russia since February reached roughly 900,000, though many later returned or moved on.
Georgia was frequently a transit point rather than a final destination. Of about 200,000 Russian citizens estimated to have entered from Russia since the war began, roughly 60,000 were thought to have stayed, with others continuing to Turkey, Armenia and further afield.
Georgia's mixed reaction
Davitashvili said he did not share the view, popular on Georgian social media, that the arrivals were a security threat, and argued that people fleeing the Russian government should be allowed to live and work in Georgia within the law. At the same time, hundreds of Georgians called for an end to the visa-free regime, and small protests in October 2022 demanded visas for Russians. The ruling Georgian Dream party rejected the idea.
Critics questioned how many arrivals were political dissidents and how many were simply escaping sanctions and economic hardship. That distinction is important: a border count tells us how many people moved, not why each of them did, and it does not tell us how many stayed permanently.
The economic effects cut both ways. Russian money and remote workers helped the Georgian economy grow and strengthened the national currency, the lari. But rents and property prices in Tbilisi rose sharply, and many local tenants found themselves priced out, adding to existing tensions.
What the exodus meant for Russia and Belarus
Many of those who left were young, educated professionals, including programmers, designers and others who could work remotely. Economists warned that their departure could deepen Russia's economic problems over the long term, by draining the skills a modern economy needs.
There is a political side as well. A government that loses large numbers of its critics faces less opposition at home in the short run. Both Moscow and Minsk tightened laws against dissent through 2022, and for many families the decision to leave was framed exactly as Anya put it: a choice between silence and exile.
Common misunderstandings
"Everyone who left was an anti-war activist." Some were, and many cited fear of repression, but others left because of sanctions, business problems or fear of conscription. Surveys of emigrants found that a large majority did say they feared repression by the Russian government.
"The 25,000 were all refugees living on the streets." Some arrived with little money and were reported to be sleeping rough or in temporary accommodation, but many were able to rent flats and work remotely, which is exactly why rents rose.
"Georgia closed its border to Russians." It did not. Despite public pressure, the visa-free regime stayed in place.
Sources: BBC News, March 2022; Frontnews, 7 March 2022; Wikipedia: Russian emigration following the invasion of Ukraine; Wikipedia: Georgia–Russia relations.
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