Jerusalem of Peace
Almost a year has passed since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, tragic events began on February 24, 2022, when the Russian army crossed the border of Ukraine and an active armed conflict began. However, we must say that the war in Ukraine started much earlier in 2014 in the eastern regions of the country, namely in the Donetsk and Luhansk districts.
Here, the Russian special services supported the local separatist regimes with their usual tactics, the ordinary population suffered the most, and the population of the eastern cities of Ukraine lived in fear for 8 years, in the Donetsk region, artillery fire was gradually taking place from both sides, and once large and safe cities became a training ground after 2014.
In February 2022, the war resumes, but this time the war is much larger, as the armies of the two largest European countries are fighting in the conflict. We can safely say that the war is going on in the entire territory of Ukraine, along with the increase in the radius of hostilities, the number of victims among the civilian population has also increased, Millions of Ukrainians were left without a home, and due to the unstable environment in the country, millions of Ukrainians decided to save themselves by emigrating.
About 5.2 million Ukrainians are registered as refugees in European countries, and 2.5 million Ukrainians have taken refuge in Russia. At the same time, the events in Russia are developing dramatically, where in September 2022, general military mobilization was announced.
This means that the armed forces are allowed to call up almost all healthy men from the age of 18 to the age of 55 for military service. These events, of course, caused great dissatisfaction among the Russian youth, and from the day of the announcement of the mobilization, the population began to flee the country. Unfortunately, Russian sources do not allow us to state the exact number, although according to unofficial data, 4 million people left Russia.
Russian and Ukrainian migrants, of course, choose countries with strong economies for migration, that is, mainly Western European countries, but it seems that for the displaced population, only the economic situation is not important, although the economy of Georgia is not very strong, there are about 200,000 Ukrainians in our country and more than 400,000 Russians entered, As a percentage, if we compare these numbers with the population of Georgia, we will realize that this percentage is a very large number.
Why do Russians and Ukrainians choose Georgia?
In my opinion, the most real reason is the geographical location of Georgia, it turned out that Georgia directly borders the Russian Federation in the south-east, and after arriving in Georgia, almost all directions are open for Russian citizens, Georgia is not far from Ukraine, especially for those Ukrainians who took refuge in Russia after the war. The second solid reason is the closeness of mentality, although Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia are inhabited by different ethnic people, our mentality is quite close to each other, during the Soviet Union, generations grew up so that all three republics were part of one whole country, therefore upbringing, religion, mentality, makes it easier to adapt to a new environment and makes life in emigration much easier.
If we look at the statistics, 75% of the population entering the country is 32 years old or younger, and the majority of those entering choose Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, to live in. Why do Russian and Ukrainian young people like Tbilisi? Well, Tbilisi is a historical, ancient city, but we can also confidently say that Tbilisi is also a modern European city. Living in the city is cheaper compared to other countries, the city is always alive and full of entertainment activities, and the nightlife culture in the capital of Georgia has been actively developing since the 2000s today it is even called the Berlin of Eastern Europe.
First of all, there is freedom in there, you can freely hold a protest, and wear the clothes you want, this certainly causes a great cultural shock among the newly arrived Belarusian and Russian youth, and because of this they soon fall in love with Tbilisi. It is a small freedom island in a region.
Hospitality is a big part of the Georgian mentality, it seems to be in our genetic code, there is no more fortunate moment for a Georgian than when a guest expresses satisfaction, that’s why our country is one of the favorite places for tourists from many other countries.
Tbilisi is the Jerusalem of peace for the youth tired of war, politics, and fighting, here you won’t find foreigners who fight each other because of politics, where everyone is surrounded by love for Georgia and eats delicious Georgian dishes.
the capital of youth, this is also a kind of art, the art of peace, which is established not by bombs but by love.