A N A LY S I S DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS RUSSIANS POST PORTAS Mapping New Russian Diaspora in Serbia Damir Zejnulahović, Aleksandar Pavlović and Irena Molnar December 2024 Following the Russian invasion on Ukraine in February 2022 and partial mobilisation in Russia in September 2022, a large number of Russian citizens came to Serbia, where at least 30,000 of them still reside. Reasons for choosing Serbia vary, but the major ones are relative ease of travel and stay, proximity to the EU and western nations and favourable social context. Over 200 Rus­sian citizens participated in the anonymous survey and 16 were interviewed in person. Russian immigrants to Serbia are typically more educated and somewhat younger com­pared to the Russian population. Two notable groups comprise: a) relatively young men, with higher education, full-time employment in the IT sector and thus with income unteth­ered to his location, and who mostly rents a flat in Belgrade or Novi Sad, and b) families with small child or children, often buying a house, enrolling children in local schools and more interested in blending in the long run. The Russian immigrants are overwhelmingly anti-establishment, emphasising Putin re­gime’s chief responsibility for the war in Ukraine and describe it as an aggression. They vote against Putin, are active through donations and petitions online, and partici­pate in protests and meetings regarding Russia in Serbia. Nonetheless, as the war drags on, they are increasingly disillusioned about the prospects for political change in Russia and also somewhat disappointed and critical of Zelenskyy, EU and NATO.