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A mini-Russia is emerging in Serbia as tens of thousands flee war

STORY: A thousand miles from Moscow lies the Serbian capital of Belgrade, a place that a vibrant community of Russians now calls home — part of a wave of tens of thousands who fled their homeland following Ukraine’s February 2022 invasion. Vadim Morus is one of them. The skater has found it easy to fit in, thanks to his professional skills. “My first day at the rink, when I started working, people immediately approached me and asked if I wanted to help their children train, and I said, ‘Of course.’ So from the beginning, I started meeting Serbs and building some interaction.” But not everyone is integrating with the locals, as a mini-Russia is emerging in Belgrade — a city with long-standing cultural and religious ties to Moscow. More than 30,000 Russians registered for temporary residence in Serbia after the war began through mid-2023, according to the latest government data. It’s a sharp increase from before, officials said. Many of the emigrants — fleeing conflict, conscription or the policies of President Vladimir Putin — lined up to vote at the embassy in Russia earlier this year. Fewer Russians move to Serbia than to countries like Germany, but their presence is acutely felt in Belgrade, a city of fewer than 2 million people. A slew of Russian businesses have sprung up. And many Russians shop in Russian stores and eat in Russian restaurants. Psychologist Mishell Dia, who also left because of the war, said many of her fellow Russians don’t feel the need to venture outside their communities. “It seems like all their social needs are met. You walk downtown and you always hear Russian people, four or five times in an hour. And you can pick 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 stress of fleeing their home countries made it hard for many others to settle down. “I see Russians who don’t even interact with other Russians,” she said. Ties between Serbia and Russia go back centuries and remain cordial, though Serbia is also seeking to join the European Union, which condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Serbian political scientist Aleksandar Djokic taught in Russia until the war broke out. He said the newcomers, many of whom are experts in fields such as IT, could boost Serbia’s economy even if they choose not to integrate into the wider society. But, Djokic added, this wave of emigrants will not have the same cultural impact as it did a century ago, when artists and architects arrived as part of the anti-communist, so-called Belarusians fleeing the civil war.