Russians in Georgia

[3] In addition to that, Russians made up 36.8% of the population in Sokhumi (making them the largest ethnic group there at the time),[4] 31.6% in Rustavi, 26.8% in Poti and 25.6% in Batumi.

There was also a sizable rural Russian community in Ninotsminda, consisting mainly of members of the Doukhobor religious group.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian was not only abolished as the country's de facto official language, Georgia also faced several wars, economic hardship and ethnic tensions arose.

Census data shows that the Russian population had risen from 83 to the high-point of 407,886 between 1926 and 1959 and then began to decline slowly to 341,172 in 1989.

[2] In October 2022, protests were held demanding the introduction of a visa regime with Russia in order to mitigate the economic damage caused by the migration, with the ruling Georgian Dream party dismissing such a step as "irrational".