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[1/5] A view shows a border-crossing point on the frontier between Armenia and Azerbaijan and a base of Russian peacekeepers deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh as seen from a road near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia, September 23, 2023. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze Acquire Licensing RightsSummary Ethnic Armenians to leave Karabakh - leadership120,000 people could move into ArmeniaProcess of giving up weapons is underwayNEAR KORNIDZOR, Armenia, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The 120,000 ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will leave for Armenia as they do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan and fear ethnic cleansing, the leadership of the breakaway region told Reuters on Sunday. Azerbaijan says it will guarantee their rights and integrate the region but the leadership of the Armenians in Karabakh told Reuters that they would leave. He said it was unclear when the Karabakh Armenians would move down the Lachin corridor which links the territory to Armenia, where Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has faced calls to resign for failing to save Karabakh. Azerbaijan, which is mainly Muslim, has said the Armenians, who are Christian, can leave if they want.

Persons: Irakli, David Babayan, Samvel Shahramanyan, Nikol Pashinyan, Babayan, Pashinyan, Felix Light, Guy Faulconbridge, Lidia Kelly, William Mallard, Peter Graff Organizations: REUTERS, Karabakh, Reuters, Sunday, Soviets, International Committee, Thomson Locations: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, KORNIDZOR, Soviet Union, Republic of Artsakh, Russians, Ottomans, South Caucasus, Russia, United States, Turkey, Iran, Moscow

☆ Fleeing bombs and death, Armenians recount fear and hunger
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Petya Grigoryan is one of the first ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to make it to Armenia after a lightning 24-hour Azerbaijani military operation defeated the Karabakh Armenian forces. The ethnic Armenians of Karabakh, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, say they will not live as part of Azerbaijan and that almost all of the 120,000 Armenians there will leave for Armenia. Grigoryan, a 69-year-old driver, said his Kochoghot village in what the Armenians know as the Martakert district of Karabakh was pummelled by Azerbaijan armed forces. Grigoryan and thousands of other Armenians made their way to the airport near the Karabakh capital, known as Stepanakert by Armenians and Khankendi by Azerbaijan, where some Russian peacekeepers are based. Then the Azerbaijan military shelled the Shosh village where he was staying.

Persons: Irakli, Grigoryan, Ilham Aliyev, Guy Faulconbridge, David Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Karabakh, Russian, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Goris, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Grigoryan, Martakert, pummelled, Khankendi, Leninakan

☆ Explainer: Why are 120,000 people about to move from Nagorno-Karabakh?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The 120,000 ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will leave for Armenia as they do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan and fear ethnic cleansing, the leadership of the breakaway region told Reuters on Sunday. As the Soviet Union crumbled, what is known as the First Karabakh War erupted (1988-1994) between Armenians and their Azerbaijan. If 120,000 people go down the Lachin corridor to Armenia, the small South Caucasian country could face a humanitarian crisis. It was not immediately clear where 120,000 people could be housed in Armenia, whose population is just 2.8 million, ahead of winter. Many Armenians blame Pashinyan, who lost a 2020 war to Azerbaijan over Karabakh, for losing Karabakh.

Persons: Irakli, David Babayan, Samvel Shahramanyan, Babayan, Nikol Pashinyan, Pashinyan, Ilham Aliyev, Armenia's Pashinyan, Guy Faulconbridge, Bernadette Baum Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Russian, Armenian, International Committee, Karabakh, stoke, NATO, Thomson Locations: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Republic of Artsakh, Soviet Union, AZERBAIJAN, South Caucasus, Russia, United States, Turkey, Iran, Moscow, Yerevan, Russian

☆ U.S. Senator Peters expresses concern about Nagorno-Karabakh situation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEAR KORNIDZOR, Armenia, Sept 23 (Reuters) - A U.S. senator, leading a congressional delegation to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border on Saturday, said international observers were needed to monitor the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, adding that people were "very fearful" about what was happening there. Gary Peters, a U.S. senator leading a congressional delegation to the Armenia-Azerbaijan frontier to monitor the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, uses binoculars to look at a border-crossing point on a road near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia, September 23, 2023. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze Acquire Licensing Rights"I am certainly very concerned about what’s happening in Nagorno-Karabakh right now, I think there needs to be some visibility," Gary Peters, a Democrat from Michigan, told reporters on the border. Russia said earlier that Armenian fighters in Karabakh had started to give up arms as some humanitarian aid reached the 120,000 Armenians living there after Azerbaijan defeated their forces. Reporting by Felix Light; Writing by Alexander Marrow Editing by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Gary Peters, Irakli, Felix Light, Alexander Marrow, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Democrat, Azerbaijan, Thomson Locations: KORNIDZOR, Armenia, U.S, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Michigan, Russia

☆ Russia says Karabakh Armenian fighters start giving up arms
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"The armed formations of Karabakh have begun handing over weapons and military equipment under the control of Russian peacekeepers," said Russia, which has around 2,000 peacekeepers in Karabakh. Russia's defence ministry said so far six armoured vehicles, more than 800 guns, about 5,000 units of ammunition were handed over by the fighters. Armenians in Karabakh told Reuters that they were essentially besieged in the region, with little food, electricity or fuel - and called on big powers to help them. Azerbaijan envisages an amnesty for Karabakh Armenian fighters who give up their arms and has said the Armenians can leave the region for Armenia if they want. Thousands of Karabakh Armenians have massed at the airport seeking the protection of Russian peacekeepers there.

Persons: Irakli, Cross, Nikol Pashinyan, Antony Blinken, Karapetyan, Svetlana Alaverdyan, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Karabakh, ICRC, Azerbaijan, International Committee, Reuters, Nagorno, United, Thomson Locations: Armenia, Karabakh, Tegh, Russia, KORNIDZOR, Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Baku, United States, Nagorno, Kusapat, Arajadzor

☆ Karabakh Armenians say ceasefire being implemented, aid is arriving
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Earlier, the Karabakh Armenians held another round of talks with Azerbaijani officials in the town of Shusha, three days after the ceasefire that followed a lightning 24-hour offensive in which Baku retook control of the mountainous region. Armenians say they fear they will be persecuted if they stay. "Today we were thrown out into the street - they made us vagabonds," Karapetyan told Armenia A1+, a partner of Reuters. Thousands of Karabakh Armenians have massed at the airport seeking the protection of Russian peacekeepers there. "They were shooting on the right, they were shooting on the left - we went out one after another, without taking clothes," she told Armenia A1+.

Persons: Cross, Elshad Hajiyev, Irakli, Gary Peters, We've, Peters, Nikol Pashinyan, Hikmet Hajiyev, Karapetyan, Svetlana Alaverdyan, Guy Faulconbridge, Alexander Marrow, Gareth Jones Organizations: ICRC, Karabakh, International Committee, Reuters, REUTERS, Rights, Democrat, Nagorno, Thomson Locations: Russia, Karabakh, KORNIDZOR, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Shusha, Baku, Artsakh, Moscow, Kornidzor, Michigan, Kusapat, Arajadzor

[1/2] Vehicles of Russian peacekeepers leaving Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region for Armenia pass an Armenian checkpoint on a road near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia September 22, 2023. Images of fleeing Armenians at Russia's own peacekeeping base at an airport in Nagorno-Karabakh have been harder for them to watch. But its handling of the Karabakh crisis has forced it into a blame game with Armenia and obliged it to defend its foreign policy in the region. It now accuses him of triggering the crisis by saying - after Russian peacekeepers were deployed to Karabakh in 2020 following Armenia's defeat in a 44-day war - that he recognised Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Baku has long argued that Karabakh falls within its own borders, but Karabakh Armenians wanted Pashinyan to recognise their independence and unify them with Armenia.

Persons: Irakli, Alexander Baunov, Russia's, Sergei Markov, Pashinyan, Dmitry Medvedev, Medvedev, Margarita Simonyan, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Armenian, Soviet, Carnegie, Karabakh, Protesters, Kremlin, Russian, Security Council, NATO, Thomson Locations: Karabakh, Armenia, Kornidzor, Russia, Azerbaijan Moscow, Kabul, U.S, Afghanistan, Nagorno, Turkish, Moscow, Azerbaijan, Soviet Union, Turkey, Iran, Ukraine, South Caucasus, Stepanakert, Russian, America, Baku ., Yerevan, Baku, Pashinyan

☆ Armenians wait forlornly for relatives at border with Azerbaijan
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] People gather near the Armenian border guard post on the road leading from Armenia to Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region, near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia September 21, 2023. Azerbaijan this week launched a lightning offensive to retake Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region where ethnic Armenians had enjoyed de facto independence since a war in the early 1990s. The men at the hillside border checkpoint were waiting in the hope of greeting relatives escaping from Karabakh. In three hours spent at the checkpoint near the Armenian village of Kornidzor, Reuters reporters did not witness any reunions. They spent the time drinking coffee, arguing with Armenian border guards who refused to allow them to go any further, and voicing fears for the fate of their relatives.

Persons: Irakli, Armen Petrosyan, Petrosyan, Hayk, Oksana, Felix Light, Mark Trevelyan, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Armenia, Karabakh, Kornidzor, KORNIDZOR, Azerbaijan, Sisian, Ottoman, Goris

☆ Armenian protesters demand Pashinyan ouster after Karabakh surrender
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The protesters gathered on Republic Square in the heart of Yerevan. Many demanded the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who presided over defeat to Azerbaijan in a 2020 war, and now the final collapse of Karabakh's Armenian authorities. Some of those in Republic Square yelled "Artsakh! Others threw bottles and stones at the prime minister's office on Republic Square. Azerbaijan said that it wanted a "smooth reintegration process" for Karabakh's Armenians, and rejected Armenian accusations that it wanted to "ethnically cleanse" the region.

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan, we've, Pashinyan, Irakli, Reuters Graphics Samvel Sargsyan, Sargsyan, Khachatur Kobelyan, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey, Alex Richardson Organizations: Karabakh, . Riot, Protesters, REUTERS, Reuters Graphics Samvel, Theatre, Cinema University, Thomson Locations: YEREVAN, Karabkh, Azerbaijan, Yerevan, Karabakh, Nagorno, Armenia, Artsakh, Karabakh's, USA, Russia, Ottoman

☆ Georgia accuses ex-official of plotting from Ukraine to oust Tbilisi government
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Men wearing traditional clothes stand next to the Georgian flag during the Independence Day celebrations in Tbilisi, Georgia May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze Acquire Licensing RightsTBILISI, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Georgia on Monday accused a former deputy interior minister of plotting from Ukraine to overthrow the Tbilisi government, testing ties with Kyiv as Georgia deepens its relations with Russia. It did not provide evidence, and in Kyiv, foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said Tbilisi was "trying to demonise Ukraine" for domestic reasons. "The Ukrainian state did not interfere, does not interfere and does not plan to interfere in the internal affairs of Georgia," he wrote on Facebook. The Georgian State Security Service named a former bodyguard to Saakashvili as one of the alleged conspirators, along with the commander of a Georgian unit fighting in Ukraine.

Persons: Irakli, Giorgi Lortkipanidze, Oleg Nikolenko, Andriy Yusov, Russia's, Irakli Garibashvili, Mikheil Saakashvili, Saakashvili, Felix Light, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Georgian, REUTERS, Rights, The State Security Service, Western Georgian, Facebook, European Union, EU, Ukraine, NATO, Georgian State Security Service, Thomson Locations: Tbilisi , Georgia, Rights TBILISI, Georgia, Ukraine, Tbilisi, Kyiv, Russia, Ukrainian, Brussels, Europe, Moscow, Abkhazia, South Ossetia

☆ Anti-LGBT protesters break up Pride festival in Georgia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Anti-LGBTQ protesters scuffle with police as they try to break into the site of Tbilisi Pride Fest, in Tbilisi, Georgia July 8, 2023. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze TPX IMAGES OF THE DAYJuly 8 (Reuters) - Up to 2,000 anti-LGBT protesters broke up a Gay Pride festival in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Saturday, scuffling with police and destroying props including rainbow flags and placards, though there were no reports of injuries. "The protesters managed to find... ways to enter the area of the event, but we were able to evacuate the Pride participants and organisers," Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Darakhvelidze told reporters. Georgia aspires to join the European Union but its ruling Georgian Dream Party has faced increased criticism from rights groups and the EU over its perceived drift towards authoritarianism. Georgia has passed laws against discrimination and hate crimes, but LGBT+ rights groups say there is a lack of adequate protection by law enforcement officials and homophobia remains widespread in the socially conservative South Caucasus nation.

Persons: Alexander Darakhvelidze, Nobody, Mariam Kvaratskhelia, Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, Alexander Lashkarava, Gareth Jones, Ros Russell Organizations: Tbilisi Pride Fest, REUTERS, Gay, Pride, Tbilisi Pride, Reuters, LGBT, European Union, Georgian, Party, EU, Thomson Locations: Tbilisi, Tbilisi , Georgia, Georgian, Georgia, . Georgia, South Caucasus

☆ Tbilisi Pride festival canceled after violent anti-LGBTQ protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Niamh Kennedy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A Pride festival was canceled in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Saturday by organizers who say authorities failed to prevent violent disruptions from Russian-affiliated far-right groups. Festival organizers Tbilisi Pride said in a tweet that they were “compelled” to cancel the festival and “evacuate” the festival territory. “The Ministry of Interior of Georgia once again neglected to protect us from violent far-right groups and allowed the mobs to prevent us from exercising our freedom of expression and assembly even in private settings,” Tbilisi Pride said. Videos posted by Georgian activist channels showed clashes between police officers and anti-LGBTQ protesters in the festival area in Lisi Wonderland. Tbilisi Pride has accused the Georgian government of orchestrating and coordinating with Russian-affiliated, far-right group Alt Info, who they claim disrupted the event.

Persons: Lisi Wonderland, ”, “, Wonderland, Alexander Darakhvelidze, ” Darakhvelidze, Nobody, Irakli Gedenidze, Shalva Papuashvili, Papuashvili, Salome Zourabichvili, ” Zourabichvili, Mark Clayton, Clayton, Peter Fischer Organizations: CNN, First Channel, Tbilisi Pride, Interior, ”, ” Tbilisi Pride, Pride, Russian, Reuters, Georgian Interior Ministry, Georgian, Channel, UN Locations: Georgian, Tbilisi, Georgia, ” Tbilisi

☆ Georgia to resume flights to Russia this week, drawing EU and Ukrainian criticism
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 16 (Reuters) - Georgian Airways will resume direct flights to Russia from Saturday, the country's civil aviation authority said, drawing criticism from Ukraine and the European Union. "The world is isolating Russia to force it to stop the war, but Georgia is welcoming Russian airlines and sending its own to Moscow. All while 20% of Georgian territory remains occupied by Russia with impunity," Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on Twitter. The EU said it regretted that Georgia was resuming flights to Russia at a time when the bloc has closed its airspace to Russian planes in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. "This latest decision by Georgia's authorities raises concerns in terms of Georgia's EU path," EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano said.

☆ Georgian protesters rally in Tbilisi after violent clashes with police
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Jake Cordell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The ruling Georgian Dream party say it is modelled on U.S. legislation dating from the 1930s. In violent clashes on Tuesday evening, protesters threw petrol bombs and stones at police, who used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowds. Critics say Georgian Dream is too close to Russia and has taken the country in a more repressive direction in recent years. Georgian Dream Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze defended the bill again on Wednesday, saying it would help root out those working against the interests of the country and the powerful Georgian Orthodox Church. He criticised Georgia's "radical opposition" for stirring up protesters to commit "unprecedented violence" during Tuesday's rallies, according to Georgian news agencies.

☆ Georgian police use tear gas on protesters after parliament backs 'foreign agents' law
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/9] A protester sits on his haunches in front of police officers, who block the way during a rally against the "foreign agents" law in Tbilisi, Georgia, March 7, 2023. REUTERS/Irakli GedenidzeTBILISI, March 7 (Reuters) - Georgian police used tear gas to disperse protesters on Tuesday in central Tbilisi after parliament gave its initial backing to a draft law on "foreign agents" which critics say represents an authoritarian shift in the South Caucasus country. The law, backed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, would require any organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from overseas to register as "foreign agents", or face substantial fines. Georgian television showed protesters angrily remonstrating with police armed with riot shields who then used tear gas. "The future of our country doesn't belong to, and will not belong to, foreign agents and servants of foreign countries," he said.

☆ Georgian police use tear gas to halt protest against 'foreign agents' law
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

TBILISI, March 8 (Reuters) - Police in the ex-Soviet state of Georgia used tear gas and stun grenades early on Wednesday to break up a protest outside Parliament against a draft law on "foreign agents". The crowd then gathered outside parliament, where some people pulled aside light metal barriers designed to keep the public away from the building. Speaking in Berlin earlier on Tuesday, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Garibashvili reaffirmed his support for the law, saying the proposed provisions on foreign agents met "European and global standards". [1/10] Police use a water cannon to disperse protesters during a rally against the "foreign agents" law in Tbilisi, Georgia, March 7, 2023. Late on Tuesday night protesters angrily remonstrated with police armed with riot shields who then used tear gas and watercannon.

☆ Brawl erupts in Georgia parliament over 'Russian-inspired' foreign agent law
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] People take part in a protest against the controversial "foreign agents" bill outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia March 6, 2023. Critics have compared it to a 2012 Russian law, which has been steadily expanded since then and used to crack down on Russian civil society and independent media. "The Russian legislation that now is proposed in parliament is against Georgia's national interests, against our European aspirations," said Irakli Pavlenishvili, a civil rights activist and opposition politician. However, Givi Mikanadze, a Georgian Dream lawmaker, told national television: "Georgian society absolutely deserves to know which organisations are being financed, from which sources. Last month, more than 60 civil society organisations and media outlets said they would not comply with the new "foreign agent" legislation if it becomes law.

☆ A year into the war, Russians in Georgia are viewed with suspicion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Bookshop owner Nikolai Kireev, who recently relocated from Russia to Georgia, is seen through a window in Tbilisi, Georgia, February 14, 2023. Kireev is one of hundreds of thousands of Russians who relocated to Georgia following the invasion in February and the announcement of a "partial mobilisation" in Russia in September. According to Georgia's interior ministry, 112,000 Russians were in the country, which has a population of 3.7 million, as of Nov. 1. While the emigrants have helped make Georgia, along with neighbouring Armenia - another popular destination for anti-war Russians - among the fastest growing economies in the world, many Georgians view them with suspicion. In the 1990s, Moscow backed separatists in the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, with the regions' ethnic Georgian populations expelled.

☆ Jailed ex-Georgian leader appears in court by video link, seeking urgent medical treatment
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Irakli GedenidzeTBILISI, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Mikheil Saakashvili, the jailed former president of Georgia, appeared in court via video link on Wednesday to show how much weight he had lost while incarcerated, as associates renewed calls for him to be freed for urgent medical treatment. Citing medical records, Saakashvili's team says his weight has dropped from 115 kg (254 pounds) when he was jailed in October 2021 to 68 kg (150 pounds) at a check-up this week. Georgian authorities say he is feigning the gravity of his condition in order to secure early release. Zelenskiy decried Saakashvili's condition, saying Georgian authorities were trying to kill him. Saakashvili's supporters accuse the current Georgian government of adopting a pro-Kremlin position and of refusing to sufficiently back Ukraine.

☆ Russians who fled draft in no hurry to return from Georgia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( David Chkhikvishvili | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Travellers walk after crossing the border with Russia at the frontier checkpoint Verkhny Lars - Zemo Larsi, Georgia September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Irakli GedenidzeTBILISI, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A month after Russia said it had ended a recruitment drive for its war in Ukraine, men who fled to neighbouring Georgia to avoid the draft say they are in no rush to return home. Of course I don't want to return to a country where police can arrest me for simply walking past them. Yet the arrival of so many relatively well-off Russians in a comparatively poor country of just 3.7 million has created tension. Samadashvili said she fears Putin could use the pretext of "protecting" Russians in Georgia as grounds for a further invasion, just as he did in Ukraine.

☆ From Russia with cash: Georgia booms as Russians flee Putin's war
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Jake Cordell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), for example, predicted in March the Ukraine conflict would deal a major blow to the Georgian economy. "On the contrary, we see the Georgian economy growing quite well this year, double digits." Business leaders also worry that the country could face a hard landing should the war end and Russians return home. TO GEORGIA WITH $1 BILLIONGeorgia itself fought a short war with Russia in 2008 over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, territories controlled by Russian-backed separatists. 'THE CRISIS COULD HIT'TBC's Butskhrikidze said he saw potential in the new arrivals to fill skills gaps in the Georgian economy.

☆ 'I don't want to shoot anybody': war-averse Russians seek sanctuary in Georgia
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Jake Cordell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Igor Tikhiy, a 49-year-old Russian citizen and marketing professional, gives an interview in Tbilisi, Georgia, October 7, 2022. I don't want to be among them," he told Reuters in an interview in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. It is a journey travelled by tens of thousands of Russians in the first weeks of Russia's chaotic mobilisation. Many Russians, including Igor and Alexey, say they are against the war and want to integrate into Georgian society, but locals are sceptical. "Even if we believe that all the Russians coming here oppose Putin... it's still a problem," said Lana Ghvinjilia at the protest.

☆ Desperation on Russia's borders as draft-eligible men flee
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Travellers from Russia cross the border to Georgia at the Zemo Larsi/Verkhny Lars station, Georgia September 26, 2022. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterHis escape was part of a vast exodus from Russia that has seen thousands of military-age men make for the borders with Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. On Monday, Novaya Gazeta Europe reported that 261,000 men had left Russia since mobilisation was declared, citing a Kremlin source. On the Kazakhstan border, Nikita described would-be emigres pitching tents along the highway leading up to the Vishnyovka border post, while others less well-equipped slept on the tarmac, building makeshift beds out of their own clothes. Some of the most dramatic scenes were at Russia’s only operational border crossing with Georgia, which allows Russians to stay for a year without a visa.

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