It was back to business as usual. In Ukraine that afternoon, 19 civilians dead and counting, and thousands without electricity in their homes. The interaction captured the uneasy and confused psychological state many exiles now living in this city are experiencing.
Reports about how many Russians fled after mobilization vary: One October article in Russian Forbes claims ,, others list numbers closer to 1 million. Many Russians in Tbilisi have been able to preserve their jobs at home, working remotely as freelancers and programmers. Some have opened local businesses including coffee shops, bookstores and bars.
Those unable to work remotely are scratching their heads as their financial reserves run out, hoping a free Russia comes sooner rather than later. One tragedy eclipses the previous; the struggle of Russian emigres seems insignificant compared to what Ukrainians face daily.
Barely any Russians could be spotted at the protest, or even on the streets that day. Many said they were too ashamed and too frightened to step out of their apartments. Their fears largely stem from the negative feelings that locals, especially younger Georgians, harbor about their arrival. Verkhny Lars, a mountain road that passes through the border between Russia and Georgia, will forever remain in the historical memory of young Russians as a place of farce and terror. But what many Russians had hoped would make for a convenient exit turned into a hellish trial that stretched for multiple days.
Thousands of fleeing cars clogged the Verkhny Lars road and with many people running low on food and water, the situation verged on a humanitarian crisis. Among the thousands of young men who crossed the border were Ivan Shemyakin and Maxim Pavlovsky, who would have almost certainly been drafted and sent to the front lines in Ukraine, likely as cannon fodder. Yulya Kalaban, a Ukrainian-born Russian national, was driven from Russia from fear of political persecution, her journey coinciding with the mobilization exodus.
