‘I don’t want to shoot anybody’: war-averse Russians seek sanctuary in Georgia

TBILISI, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Igor Tikhiy, a 49-year-old advertising skilled, has a easy reply to the query of why he fled to Georgia final week, crossing the border in the dark on his bicycle.

“I do not wish to shoot anyone. That is why I am right here.”

He’s one in every of hundreds of Russian males who’ve left their nation since President Vladimir Putin introduced a nationwide mobilisation drive in a bid to recruit new manpower for Moscow’s struggle on Ukraine.

In keeping with the mobilisation legal guidelines handed by the Kremlin and reassurances by officers, Igor’s age ought to imply he isn’t topic to the draft.

“In Russia, what’s written down is one factor however what they really do is one other. There are 50 year-olds being despatched to the entrance. I do not wish to be amongst them,” he instructed Reuters in an interview within the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.

“I noticed recruiters coming to my constructing with draft papers. I do not wish to be round to search out out if they’re coming for me,” he added.

After Putin ordered mobilisation, Igor, who lived in Moscow, packed his luggage – and his bike – and flew to the southern Russian metropolis of Vladikavkaz, some 32 km (20 miles) from the border with Georgia. Crossing in the course of the night time to keep away from heavy queues, he then took a taxi some three hours south to Tbilisi, the Georgian capital.

It’s a journey travelled by tens of hundreds of Russians within the first weeks of Russia’s chaotic mobilisation.

Alexey, a 33-year-old who works in media, spent six days queuing in his automobile on the Russian facet of the border. He did not sleep for the primary 48 hours for concern of shedding his place.

“It was a tricky choice to go away, I considered it for a very long time. However I realised if I did not go away proper now I’d by no means be capable of. Russia may shut the borders,” he stated.

Rumours of border closures have swirled round Moscow for weeks, denied by the Kremlin however considered by many as credible.

Alexey stated he thought-about abandoning his automobile and crossing on foot or bike, the place the traces the place shorter. Native media experiences say dozens of automobiles needed to be moved by police after their house owners ditched them close to the border.

“I do not wish to go to struggle. I do not wish to struggle towards a brotherly nation,” Alexey stated of his motive for leaving.

FROSTY RECEPTION

On the streets of Tbilisi, the most recent inflow of Russians right into a metropolis of simply 1 million is clear.

Giant queues have fashioned exterior banks and outlets promoting SIM playing cards, whereas cafes are dotted with younger Russian males scouring AirBnB for a spot to remain.

What number of will stay and for the way lengthy is an open query. For many who can’t work remotely, discovering a neighborhood job will probably be powerful and housing prices have rocketed, say volunteers serving to Russians to acclimatise.

Previous to mobilisation, greater than 45,000 Russians had already opened financial institution accounts in Georgia this 12 months, central financial institution knowledge reveals – greater than doubling the variety of Russian-held accounts within the nation within the area of simply six months.

The arrivals have stoked a mini financial growth, with an additional 1.2 billion Georgian lari ($430 million) flooding into Georgia by means of cross-border transfers, says the Institute for the Improvement of Freedom of Data, a Georgian think-tank.

However for some locals, there’s a feeling of apprehension.

Ex-Soviet Georgia and Russia fought a brief struggle in 2008 over Abkhazia and South Ossetia – two areas internationally recognised as a part of Georgia however below the management of Russian-backed separatists.

The 2 international locations nonetheless don’t have any formal diplomatic relations and Georgian society was fiercely anti-Russian earlier than Putin invaded Ukraine.

Some Georgian activists need their authorities to limit Russian arrivals or shut the border altogether. Underneath Georgia’s liberal immigration guidelines, Russians can successfully keep within the nation indefinitely and not using a visa.

Round 300 individuals attended an anti-Russia protest exterior Georgia’s parliament final Friday.

“They are often like a mine – an explosive – which can be utilized anytime by Putin,” stated protester Tsotne Japaridze.

Many Russians, together with Igor and Alexey, say they’re towards the struggle and wish to combine into Georgian society, however locals are sceptical.

“Even when we imagine that each one the Russians coming right here oppose Putin… it is nonetheless an issue,” stated Lana Ghvinjilia on the protest.

“That is an inflow of Russian tradition, which we have been attempting to liberate (ourselves from) over the past 30 years.”

($1 = 2.79 Georgian Lari)

Reporting by David Chkhikvishvili and Jake Cordell; enhancing by Man Faulconbridge and Gareth Jones

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.