BELGRADE, Sept 9 (Askume) – On a sultry summer morning, Russian professional skater Vadim Moras was skating on an outdoor rink in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. Moras was 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away from his hometown, Moscow, but it was beginning to feel like home.
He fled Russia with his fiancée in 2022, becoming part of a wave of thousands who came to Serbia after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Although there is still a long way to go, many choose Belgrade because of its ancient cultural and religious ties with Moscow.
“There are very few skaters in Serbia who can train others, so I have a lot of Serbian students,” the 24-year-old Moraes said.
Since the war in Ukraine broke out in February 2022, Russians fleeing conflict, recruitment or President Vladimir Putin’s politics have created a vibrant community in Serbia, according to interviews with 20 migrants and local officials.
Although the actual number of Russians in Serbia is small compared to those who fled to countries such as Germany, their presence remains strong in Belgrade, a city of less than 2 million people.
Russian-owned clubs, kindergartens, and medical clinics have opened. Russians buy food from Russian shops. Russian bands, singers, and comedians perform in Russian clubs, and Russian artists display their work in Russian-owned galleries.
The latest data from the Interior Ministry shows that between February 2022 and mid-2023, more than 30,000 Russians registered temporary residence in Serbia. Officials did not provide data for an earlier comparable period but said the number had increased dramatically.
According to data from the Serbian Business Register, during the arrival period, Russians set up 11,081 businesses in various sectors, from internet-based services to hotels and sports schools.
Russian Customers
Viktor is a 42-year-old veterinarian from St. Petersburg who fled the Russian mobilization in the autumn of 2022. Without the necessary qualifications to practice law in Serbia, he worked as an assistant in Belgrade, dealing exclusively with Russians.
“I fix plumbing, electrical appliances, windows, etc. and make furniture. I don’t really need Serbian customers,” said Viktor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his family’s safety in Russia.
Relations between Serbia and Russia go back centuries and remain warm today, despite Serbia’s efforts to join the European Union, which has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
After World War I, thousands of so-called Belarusians fled communism during the civil war and moved to the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
However, many fought for unification and preferred to keep Little Russia within Serbia. Ironically, many Serbs support Putin and disagree with the fugitives.
“The attraction of Russian culture to Russian immigrants is so strong that the first generation simply doesn’t want to integrate into the society they live in, whether it’s Serbian society or Western society,” said Aleksandar Jokic, a Belgrade-based political scientist.
Skater Moraes did not go into detail about why he left Russia, but his fiancée Alexandra Mashkanova has spoken out about the incident.
“We left for ideological reasons. A few days after February 24, we tried to understand what happened and then decided to leave,” he said.
