From the BZ editorial team
After the announced partial mobilization, the Russian authorities are now apparently trying to stop a mass flight – men are no longer allowed to leave the country so easily.
So shared The military commissar of the Rostov region said that conscript men could continue to move freely within Russia, but needed permission from the authorities in Moscow to leave the state.
Putin announced a partial mobilization last week, and according to the Russian Defense Ministry, 300,000 reservists should be drafted.
As a result, there were departures throughout the country: videos showed crowds of people in airports and long traffic jams at the borders. Thousands of men who fear being drafted are trying to evade military service in Ukraine.
But Putin’s regime urgently needs new soldiers. Therefore, the departure is now apparently stopped.
︎ Apparently, this is how the Petropavlovsk border crossing to Kazakhstan became closed: Men of military age were forbidden to leave the country. In addition, notices from the domestic secret service FSB circulated on social networks, which is said to have prohibited reservists from leaving the country for Kazakhstan.
The FSB plays a crucial role in stopping the mass exodus, since the service is also responsible for border controls.
Long queues also formed at the border with Georgia after the announcement of the partial mobilization: Russian citizens have so far been able to enter Georgia without a visa.
The mass exodus to Finland is meanwhile continuing: according to the Finnish border guards alone 17,000 Russians entered Finland at the weekend. A reserve officer reported that he had traveled to Finland because of the announced partial mobilization, that he had relatives in the Ukraine and therefore did not want to go to war.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (54) claimed on Monday afternoon that no decision had yet been made to close the border in connection with the partial mobilization.
In many regions, meanwhile, there are open protests against the forced recruitment. In Dagestan relatives attacked police officers who wanted to draft their relatives. In the eastern Siberian city of Ust-Ilimsk, north of Irkutsk, a man shot a local military commander. He had just started explaining the draft when he was gunned down.
The arrested gunman then said he was angry at his best friend’s draft.