At a time when the Russian invasion of Ukraine is raging, costing the lives of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and defenders of the country, Putin’s Russia is “bleeding”, not only on the battlefield, but also in his own country in terms of education and know-how. This is the so-called “brain drain”, which is expected to cost Russia dearly, at least as much as sanctions.
According to a Russian economist, up to 200,000 Russians have left their country since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Many of the new immigrants are tech professionals who can work remotely. A video game developer in Tbilisi told the BBC that he and most of the people he knew were opposed to Russian politics and now knew that any protest would be violently suppressed. “The only way we can protest is to leave the country, to take our skills and our 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 does not feel welcome here.
Outside the parliament of Georgia, o Gevgeny Liam brings boxes of clothes and food parcels to a truck waiting for a destination in Ukraine. He is one of more than 25,000 Russians who have arrived in Georgia since the Russian-led invasion of Ukraine. The Russians are struggling to find affordable accommodation in all the major cities. Many roam the capital, Tbilisi, with their suitcases and often even their pets.
A blue-yellow ribbon is attached to the lapel of Gevgeny’s trench coat – in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. It was these ribbons that led to his arrest in an anti-war demonstration in Russia, a day after the start of the war against Ukraine.
“I knew he was the best “One way to act against the Putin regime would be to emigrate from Russia,” said the 23-year-old political scientist.
“It is my responsibility to do what I can to help the Ukrainians.” The flight of Russian citizens does not stop in Georgia. The EU, the US, the UK and Canada have closed their airspace to Russian flights, so they are heading to countries where flights are still allowed and visa-free, such as Turkey, Central Asia and the South Caucasus. . Many have taken refuge in Armenia.
Liam is already learning Georgian, learning the country’s alphabet. “I am against Putin, I am against the war. “I can not yet withdraw money from my Russian bank account, but that does not compare at all with the problems facing the Ukrainians.”
Some fear that President Putin may claim that Russian citizens abroad need protection because that was his excuse for sending troops to the breakaway region of South Ossetia in 2008. To date, 20% of Georgian territory remains under Russian rule. occupation. However, the technology businessman Lev Kalashnikov believes that Georgia will benefit from what it claims is the largest brain drain in modern Russian history. He started a group for expatriates in the Telegram messaging application while standing in a queue. “There were 50 people in front of me and 50 people behind me. “They became my first subscribers and now we have almost 4,000 members,” he emphasizes. Members discuss where to find accommodation, how to open bank accounts and whether or not it is safe to speak Russian in public.
“A non-return flight to Istanbul cost me and my husband more than our total monthly income,” she said. Boredom, who did not want to give her last name. At this point in the decision came a new law on “state treason” that went into effect in Russia. Anyone expressing support for Ukraine could face up to 20 years in prison, and Ania 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 under Stalin and now we are experiencing it,” he said.
The Belarusians too leave their country, avoiding repression and Western sanctions imposed on the government of authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko for collaborating with Russian Vladimir Putin.
bbc.com
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