Many settled in Limassol to take advantage of the favourable tax environment in Cyprus, and with the lucrative industry came a new class of moneyed professionals
In Cyprus's southern coastal city of Limassol, Russian and Ukrainian firms fleeing wartime conditions, and Israeli investors betting on real estate, have driven prices up and local residents out.
Eleni Constantinidou is one of them, pregnant when her landlord terminated her lease. Unable to find an affordable place in her home town, the Cypriot was forced to move in with her parents, husband and child in tow.
In 2016, it cost her 400 euros ($438) to rent a beachfront apartment in Cyprus's second city where about 176,000 people live.
Now, rent is "1,500 euros at a minimum for a two-bedroom apartment", she told AFP.