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STORY: A thousand miles from Moscow is the Serbian capital of Belgrade, a place a vibrant community of Russians now call home – part of a wave of tens of thousands who left their motherland after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.Vadim Morus is one of them.The ice skater was able to settle in easily, thanks to his professional skills.”My first day at the skating rink, when I started working, people immediately approached me asking me to help their children with training, and I said ‘of course’. Therefore, right from the very beginning, I started meeting Serbs and establishing some interaction”But not everyone is integrating with the locals, as a mini Russia springs up in Belgrade – a city with ancient cultural and religious ties to Moscow.After the war began up till mid-2023, more than 30,000 Russians registered for temporary residence in Serbia, according to the latest government data. It’s a sharp increase compared with before, officials said.Many of the emigres – fleeing conflict, conscription, or the politics of President Vladimir Putin – were seen queuing to vote at the embassy earlier this year in Russia’s election.Fewer Russians are moving to Serbia than to countries like Germany, but their presence is acutely felt in Belgrade, a city of under two million people.A whole range of Russian-owned businesses have sprung up. And many Russians shop at Russian stores, and eat at Russian restaurants.Psychologist Mishell Dia, who also left because of the war, said many of her fellow Russians don’t feel the need to go outside their community.”As it appears, all their social needs have been fulfilled. You walk through the center, and you always hear Russian people, four or five times in an hour of walking. And you can choose a restaurant with Russians, sit in a place with Russians, so many of them immediately organized themselves into a small Russian settlement.” But she added that the stresses of fleeing their homeland meant it has been difficult for many others to settle in.”I see Russians that are not even interacting with other Russians,” she said.Ties between Serbia and Russia date back centuries and remain cordial today, although Serbia is also trying to join the European Union, which condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Serbian political scientist Aleksandar Djokic was teaching in Russia until the war broke out.He said the new arrivals, many of whom are experts in fields such as IT, could be a boost to Serbia’s economy even if they did not choose to integrate with wider society.But, Djokic added, this wave of emigres won’t have the same cultural impact compared to a century ago, when artists and architects arrived as part of the anti-Communist, so-called White Russians fleeing the civil war.
