Russian deserters in Georgia | DW Documentary

In September 2022, Russian President Putin ordered a partial mobilization to deploy more soldiers to Ukraine. But many Russians defied that order and fled the country – as many as half a million to date.

Some 100,000 Russian deserters have fled to Georgia so far. The nation maintains very close, but also rather strained relations with its neighbor - after all the most recent war with Russia wasn’t that long ago. Just how welcome are the deserting Russians? How are they faring in a foreign country after an often-risky journey out of Russia? DW reporter Oxana Evdokimova reports from the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

#documentary #dwdocumentary #tbilisi
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[TXninenine]

They're not deserters if they were never in the military to begin with. They are just trying to avoid an unjust mobilization.

[bertvinkenborg]

A deserter is somebody who is already enlisted in the armed forces and went away. In this case you are referring to people who avoided being enlisted. A crucial difference!

[travelswithted]

I feel so really sorry for these young men, life is hard enough with trying to start a career family etc without your home country trying to send you off to war and then prosecuting you for not going. I hope they can start new lives and be happy.

[homoblogicus]

Beautiful Georgian people. To help these guys out.

[VladislowSound]

Hello, I am a russian who fled ruzzia on 23 of september. Since the war (yes, WAR and not "special military operation") started I had been depressed, had problems sleeping after reading horrors of war crimes that russian army was commiting. Those videos and images are imprinted in my mind. I felt powerless and hollow. One of my best friends fled russia right after war started and me and my other best friend cheered him on it. He has money and could do it, but it was not easy or cheap.

Me and other best friend had no money. We were trying to save for tickets to somewhere, we were working, but for no awail. A lot of places just closed, many more reduced pay or fire people outright. It was hard to obtain a decent ammount of money.
As summer was blooming we relaxed a bit, and it was our mistake. By the end of the summer I had 2 jobs that were not the best but could help me get somewhere.

Me and my best friend now reside in Kazakhstan. I heard many stories of good people in Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan etc. Stories of people helping people. But to be on the reciveng end of volunteers was bizzare. People helped us, strangers. Some were giving tea and others were allowing to sleep in their places. It was the first time I had something like this happened to me. In russia a lot of volonterring work is done from position of "Our college forced us to volunteer" or "We were treatened to go to this pro Putin rally or we could be fired from our jobs". I had tears in my eyes when people came and just wanted to help, no strings attached. We were thinking "There is sure must be a trick" but no. We just had been living in a country where you are always suspicious of actions of kindness.

We were not expecting any people to help us at all because of what russia is doing right now. But we were wrong. And I am glad we were. Thank you people of Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Litva, Finland and many other countries that helped Ukranians and Russians who fled due to the war!

I am okay but many people in Ukraine are not right now. If you can, donate something to small charities and individuals who help regular people on the ground (don't donate to red cross as I heard they are quite useless and majority of work is being done by small teams). (even spare change is enough, dollars and euro have nice convertation rate)

Glory to Ukraine, I hope they will be victorious and take their land back. I don't need nor Crimea nor Donbas. Fuck this imperialist bullshit. Fuck the war.
And fuck Putin.
Хуй войне. Ебал путина в его ботоксное ебало, пускай сдохнет в своём бункере.

[BlackWolf]

Well done for presenting these Russians. Hats off to them.

[giovannicaba]

I feel so sad for these young men, they seem to be so peaceful and intelligent, I can only imagine having to run out of my own country.

[DarkMarc]

Man, I Couldn't Imagine Leaving My Country And My Family Just So I Can Survive... God Bless These Young Men And All Other Young Men Who Do This!

[bakedbean]

I really feel for the guy who's mother wants to chuck him into the meat grinder.
It's heartbreaking when your own flesh and blood would happily throw you under the bus because they've been so propagandised that it has become impossible to reason with them.
I feel like I've "lost" both of my parents to political and religious propaganda.
At least mine haven't stuck a gun in my hand and told me to go and shoot the neighbours yet.
Small mercies.

[lynnmcquillan]

These are the true humanitarians - the ones who stand up & leave to express the courage of their convictions for a peaceful world ✌️🤗❤️

[adriaanvelthoven]

Brave and wise Russians….my respect….we wish the people in Ukraine also peace and freedom…

[teejaydiscombobulated]

That's so sad that he went back. Wife, kids, yes...but he won't be able to enjoy the wife and kids if he's 'dealt with' for being against the war, or if he's sent to the army to die as cannon fodder. He gets back to moscow, and is planning to leave again permanently...IF he can get out a second time. Tragic. The whole thing is tragic.

[shahidanusrat]

As a Pakistani I fully support love and respect Georgia and its beautiful people from Pakistan 🙂

[SchleimKeim]

Politics aside, Tbilisi looks like a really nice city.

[mariusmihai]

his mother prefered him to fight. this brakes my heart. how people can be fooled at such level. My mother would die before sending me to fight any fight.

[shawnamcdonald]

These young men are hero, s .Not willing to fight a war that makes no sense at all but power .stay safe xoxo
Shawna from Canada

[ellaeadig]

That old man at the start who has taken in so many Russians is an angel.

[estelleaustin]

I am in Batumi (Georgia's second largest city - Black Sea coast). These days for every one person who I hear speaking Georgian on the street, I usually hear 2-4 people speaking russian. Rents have sky rocketed. Georgians are well practiced at judging individuals for individual beliefs, so those russians who are against the war will not find an overtly unfriendly nation. Georgia is rightly known as a hospitable country, and even before the war there were a lot of anti Putin russians moving to Georgia to escape russia. I know a few who got out years ago because they knew their mouths would get them in trouble; they could not stand quietly by after 2008, or 2014... but still, the atmosphere here is definitely more tense than it was a year ago.

[ingridakerblom]

You can see that he's a gentle kind man, the way he interacts with the cat!

[neal.karn-jones]

It's important to acknowledge that there are good Russians, like these men.