The Latest Breaking News from Tbilisi

Igor Tikhiy, a 49-year-old marketing professional, has a simple answer to the question of why he fled to Georgia last week, crossing the border in the dead of night on his bicycle.

TBILISI, Georgia — Less than three weeks ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the call-up of 300,000 men to bolster army ranks decimated by battlefield routs in Ukraine. Now, in an extraordinary exodus, waves of fighting-age men have fled Russia in what appear to be roughly those same numbers.

Georgia relies on Russian wheat but as the Ukraine war drags on, local farmers are strengthening the domestic market.

Arriving in the middle of the night at my Tbilisi hotel recently for a research project, I was told that my reservation had been rescinded and the hotel was now fully booked. A huge busload of Russian men had arrived at the hotel before me and were willing to pay…