- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- England 96-1 after Salman's century lifts Pakistan to 556
- Hollywood star Idris Elba champions African cinema in Ghana
- Djokovic rolls Cobolli to make Shanghai Masters last 16
- Milan's Hernandez receives two-game suspension after referee rant
- Geoffrey Hinton, soft-spoken godfather of AI
- Ex-Barcelona and Spain great Iniesta retires aged 40
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Ex-skipper Skelton eyes Wallabies November return
- Spanish great Iniesta leaves indelible legacy after retirement
- Indian Kashmir elects first regional government in a decade
- Hong Kong stocks crash, oil prices retreat on fading China boost
- Man City accuse Premier League of 'misleading' claims after legal case
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
- Agha defies England as Pakistan post 515-8 in first Test
- September second-warmest on record: EU climate monitor
- Pastor wanted by US for sex trafficking to run for Philippine senate
- Mozambican writer Mia Couto dreams future leaders set an 'example'
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China says to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case cleared in separate sex crimes trial
- Israel expands offensive against Hezbollah in south Lebanon
- China stocks rally fizzles on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Bangladesh's Yunus says no elections before reforms
- England strike twice as Pakistan reach 397-6 at lunch in first Test
- China stocks rally peters out on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Taiwan's Foxconn says building world's largest 'superchip' plant
- Kenya's deputy president faces impeachment vote
- N. Korean soldiers 'highly likely' killed in Ukraine: Seoul
- 'Appeals Centre' to referee EU social media disputes
- US Supreme Court to hear 'ghost guns' regulation case
- 'Small' oil leaks detected in Samoa after NZ navy shipwreck
- Nobel literature jury may go for non-Western writer
- At Istanbul church, blessed spring offers hope to Christians and Muslims
- From Bolivia to Indonesia, deforestation continues apace
- Myanmar to send rep to regional summit for first time in three years
- Prabowo set to lead bolder Indonesia on world stage
- Tampa zoo rushes Chompers the porcupine and others to safety as Milton nears
- Shanghai stocks pare early surge on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- New Japan PM to hold talks on ASEAN sidelines
- Record number of climbers chase 14-peak dream in Tibet
- Former South Korea clinic for US 'comfort women' to be demolished
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- Chiefs battle past Saints to stay unbeaten
- Deal on climate aid hangs in balance at UN COP29 summit
- Royals hit back against Yankees, Tigers maul Guardians
RBGPF | -0.46% | 60.52 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
CMSD | 0% | 24.79 | $ | |
SCS | -0.54% | 12.881 | $ | |
RIO | -4.71% | 66.49 | $ | |
NGG | 0.4% | 65.74 | $ | |
GSK | -1.08% | 38.218 | $ | |
RELX | 0.97% | 46.49 | $ | |
BTI | 0.01% | 35.205 | $ | |
JRI | 0.23% | 13.21 | $ | |
AZN | 0.07% | 76.925 | $ | |
BP | -3.22% | 32.105 | $ | |
BCC | 1.14% | 142.9 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.15% | 6.87 | $ | |
VOD | -0.05% | 9.685 | $ | |
BCE | -0.45% | 33.38 | $ |
Georgia, a bleak new home for Russian exiles
Sitting at a windswept terrace of a tiny bar in Georgia's capital Tbilisi, Russian exile Roman Mikhailov said he had no choice but to leave his country "immediately" when Moscow invaded Ukraine.
The 25-year-old logistics manager said the attack on Ukraine, which shocked the world, was a point of no return for some Russians who oppose President Vladimir Putin's longtime rule.
He is among those Russians who fled in large numbers to Georgia within days -- or even hours -- of Moscow's invasion, to escape asphyxiating Western sanctions and a feared escalation in repression by the authorities.
"The majority of Russians support Putin and it's very hard to be even politically neutral," he told AFP from the Russian expats' favourite bar, deep in the labyrinth of Tbilisi's narrow streets.
"I am against Putin and the only prospect I have in Russia is to end up in prison -- like Navalny."
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who led the biggest protests against Putin that Russia has seen in recent years, has been jailed and his political organisations banned.
There are few routes out of Russia for those wishing to leave now. Western airspace is largely closed to Russian carriers.
But Tbilisi has for years served as a hub for Russian opposition circles, and Georgia is one of the few countries where Russians can stay for a year without a visa.
Sipping her beer at a nearby table, computer programmer Marina Boldyreva said she was on holiday in the Black Sea country when Putin announced the attack.
Hearing the news, she decided not to return home to Saint Petersburg, Russia's second city, and turned her break into "an immigration".
It will be "impossible to live in Russia", the 26-year-old said. "It will face a terrible economic crisis."
- 'No moral right to stay' -
The new wave of Russian emigres vividly remember what they were doing when they heard news of the invasion, launched by Putin in the early hours of February 24.
"I will remember forever how I learned the war had begun," said Denys Sinyakov, a 44-year-old who works in cinema.
That day he was filming the timeless frescoes of the Dormition Cathedral in the city of Vladimir outside Moscow, regarded as the mother church of Mediaeval Russia.
"I was looking at those frescoes and it was such a surreal feeling. You are in the cradle of Russian civilisation -- those icons that depict darkness and light -- but all I could think of was Ukraine."
His sense of shock was worsened by the fact that his wife is Ukrainian.
"My country attacked my wife's country. I have no moral right to stay in Russia," he said.
Sinyakov said he left behind a newly-built house, where the couple were "dreaming to live".
Not all Russians in Tbilisi agree about Putin's role in Ukraine.
Emotions were running high among the dozen or so exiles queing at an ATM, debating an invasion that has forced so many into immigration.
"I fully support Putin. He does what is good for Russia's interests," said Larisa Shubova, a 55-year-old businesswoman. "Let the world see our might."
"What 'might' are you talking about?" 34-year-old engineer Pavel Gruzdev retorted angrily. "Russia is an outcast now."
- 'We are pariahs' -
The influx of Russians has also sparked mixed feelings among Georgians.
Tbilisi has seen near daily mass rallies in solidarity with Ukraine since Moscow stunned the world with its full-scale attack.
Georgia itself saw a Russian invasion in 2008.
Anti-Russian sentiment is on the rise, with some Western leaders voicing concern that Georgia -- and another pro-Western ex-Soviet republic, Moldova -- could become the Kremlin's next target.
Thousands have signed an online petition demanding the government introduce a visa regime for Russian nationals and tougher immigration rules.
"For those who call this Russophobia, I bet you can hardly imagine what it means to be colonised by Russia," David Gabunia, a prominent Georgian writer, wrote on Facebook.
Boldyreva said when she sees anti-Russian graffiti on the streets of Tbilisi, "I want to say that Russia is not Putin."
She added she had, on several occasions, been beaten "with batons" by police in Russia at anti-Putin protests.
Russia on Sunday detained at least 5,000 anti-war protesters -- an unprecedented number for a single day -- in a bid to stifle criticism of its war in Ukraine.
Boldyreva acknowledged that many of her fellow exiles did not realise Moscow currently occupies a large part of Georgian territory and they would "not be received here with open arms."
"We are not welcome all over the world and it's going to be like this for a long time," she said. "We are pariahs. We are people without a country."
B.Finley--AMWN