Long lines of Russians trying to escape military mobilization continued on Wednesday to clog roads out of the country, while Moscow is said to have set up recruiting offices at the borders to intercept some of them.
North Ossetia, the Russian region bordering Georgia, declared a state of “high alert” and announced that food, water, heating equipment and other aid should be brought to those who queue for days.
Across the border in Georgia, volunteers are also mobilizing water, blankets and other aid.
That Russian region restricted the access of many passenger cars to its territory and set up a recruitment agency on the Verkhy Lars border, Russian news agencies reported.
According to the Georgian Interior Ministry, about 10,000 Russian citizens cross the border every day.
Some media outlets published photos near the border, where a black van was visible with the words: military recruiting office.
According to the independent Russian news agency Meduza, another such office has been set up on the Russian side along the Finnish border.
Moscow’s announcement last week of the mobilization of 300,000 reservists leads to the exodus of large numbers of Russian military-age men who refuse to fight in Ukraine, which has been the target of a Russian military offensive since last February.
Although Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “partial” mobilization on September 21, many Russians fear it would be much broader and arbitrary.
In Russia, there are numerous reports of men with no military training and of all ages receiving a call to be mobilized.
Aleksandr Kamisentsev, who left his home in Saratov and fled to Georgia, described the situation on the Russian side of the border as “very frightening”.
“It’s all very scary, tears, screams, a large number of people. There is a feeling that the government does not know how to organize it. It seems that they want to close the border, but at the same time they are afraid that the protests will take place and let people out”the Russian told the Associated Press (AP).
Protesters wave Georgian and Ukrainian flags and signs as “Russia kills” [Rússia Mata, em português] greeted the Russians at the border this Wednesday.
Russians have crossed the border by car, motorcycle, bicycle or on foot.
There are also long lines at the border with Kazakhstan, which has received more than 98,000 Russians since last week.
Russia has land borders with 14 countries.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on Feb. 24 has already resulted in more than 13 million people fleeing — more than six million internally displaced persons and more than 7.4 million to European countries — according to the latest data from the UN, which ranks this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the generality of the international community, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and impose it on Russia. political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented 5,996 dead and 8,848 injured civilians as confirmed since the start of the war, stressing that these numbers are far below the true number.
Source: DN
