This week, 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi reported from Tbilisi, Georgia, the capital of the small nation that shares a 556-mile border with its a lot bigger neighbor, Russia, which is waging a brutal and seemingly infinite struggle of aggression in opposition to Ukraine.
As the invasion of Ukraine started, Russians fled the nation in droves. And now, 100,000 Russians live in Georgia.
But there’s important concern amongst some Georgians that their arrival will result in a “Russification” of their nation and be used as a pretext for Russia to invade Georgia once more, because it did in 2008 after they took about 20% of Georgia’s sovereign territory.
Emmanuil Lisnif, George Smorgulenko and Pavel Bakhadov arrived in Tbilisi in 2022. All Russians of their twenties, they fled their residence nation for worry of being drafted or punished for talking out in opposition to President Vladimir Putin.
Alfonsi spoke with the three younger males on the Russian-owned comedy membership the place they work. She requested Bakhadov why he determined to talk to 60 Minutes.
“For me, it is actually essential to say for the massive viewers that may see this, that Russians are actually in opposition to the struggle,” defined Bakhadov.
60 Minutes
Bakhadov stated there’s anti-Russian graffiti that’s seen from his house window: “Russians Go Home.” But Bakhadov would not pay that suggestion any thoughts.
“I’m already residence,” he advised Alfonsi.
60 Minutes additionally spoke with a married couple, Viktor Lyagushkin and Bogdana Vashchenko, who’ve a novel story. Lyagushkin is Russian. Vashchenko is Ukrainian. Before the struggle, they lived in Moscow and labored documenting underwater caves for National Geographic.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Vashchenko, who holds a Ukrainian passport, says she grew to become terrified about what might occur to her in Russia and feared for her family and friends nonetheless residing in Ukraine. She stated she could not tolerate residing in Russia, the aggressor in a struggle in opposition to her residence nation.
“Physically, psychologically, I could not. I could not keep there. I could not sleep,” Vashchenko stated.
They determined to flee Moscow. Lyagushkin phoned some mates that have been residing up north, hoping they might stick with them earlier than fleeing to Norway. They requested whether or not Vashchenko supported “fascists” in Ukraine and defined that if she did, they must report her to Russian intelligence.
The couple then drove greater than 1,200 miles from Moscow to Tbilisi. Vashchenko stated she hid below a blanket within the backseat of their automobile as a result of she was so afraid of what may occur to Ukrainians at Russian checkpoints. They ultimately made it throughout the Georgian border.
“I’ll maintain this in my head without end,” Vashchenko advised 60 Minutes. “To cross [the] Georgian border and you are feeling you’re secure. Freedom. No Putin.”
Alfonsi requested Lyagushkin if he’ll ever return to Russia.
“No. And this dialog that we’re having proper now could be, in line with the Russian legislation, punishable by as much as eight years of jail,” he stated.
The video above was initially printed on October 29, 2023 and was produced by Brit McCandless Farmer and Will Croxton. It was edited by Will Croxton.
