Military-age men fled Russia en masse on Friday, filling planes and causing traffic jams at border crossings, to avoid being sent to fight in Ukraine following a partial military mobilization called by the Kremlin.
10-kilometer queues have formed on a highway leading to the southern border with Georgia, according to Yandex Maps, a Russian online mapping service.
Lines of cars were so long at the border with Kazakhstan that some people abandoned their vehicles and continued on foot, as some Ukrainians did after Russia invaded their country on February 24.
Meanwhile, dozens of flights left Russia, with tickets sold at sky-high prices, taking men to international destinations such as Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Serbia, where Russians do not need a visa.
Among those who arrived in Turkey was a 41-year-old man who landed in Istanbul with a suitcase and a backpack, with plans to start a new life in Israel.
“I am against this war and I will not be a part of it. I will not be a murderer. I will not kill people,” said the man, quoted by the Associated Press, who identified himself only as Yevgeny to avoid possible reprisals against his family, left behind, back in Russia.
Yevgeny referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “war criminal” and explained that he decided to flee after Putin announced a partial military recall on Wednesday, with the total number of reservists involved reaching 300,000.
Some Russians also fled to neighboring Belarus, Russia’s close ally, albeit in danger.
The Nasha Niva newspaper, one of the oldest independent newspapers in Belarus, reported that the Belarusian security services were ordered to locate Russians fleeing conscription and report them to Russian authorities.
Russian officials tried to calm a public anxious about the enlistment.
Lawmakers introduced a bill on Friday to suspend or reduce loan payments for Russians drafted into the military, with media outlets emphasizing that conscripts would have the same status as professional soldiers, receive the same and keep their civil works.
The Defense Ministry said many people working in high-tech, communications or finance will be exempt from being called up “to ensure operations” in these fields, the Tass news agency reported.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the fact that the Russians left their country to avoid conscription shows that the war in Ukraine is “unpopular.”
The exodus was triggered when a ‘referendum’ was launched by the Kremlin, with the aim of converting the occupied regions of Ukraine into part of Russia, a referendum considered fraudulent by kyiv and the West.
The German authorities expressed their desire to help the Russians get out of military service and called for a European solution.
“Those who bravely oppose the Putin regime and thus expose themselves to great danger can apply for asylum in Germany for political persecution,” German Interior Minister spokesperson Nancy Faeser said.
Spokesman Maximilian Kall said deserters and those who refuse to be summoned will be granted refugee status in Germany if they risk harsh prosecution, although each case will be examined individually.
But first they would have to reach Germany, which has no land border with Russia and, like other European Union countries, has become much more difficult for Russians to travel.
The EU banned direct flights between its 27 member states and Russia following the attack on Ukraine, and recently agreed to limit the issuance of Schengen visas, which allow free movement across much of Europe.
The only EU country that still accepts Russians on Schengen visas is Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia.
Border guards in Finland said on Friday that the number of people entering the country from Russia has increased significantly, with media reporting a 107% increase compared to last week.
At Vaalimaa, one of the busiest border crossings, the line of waiting cars was half a kilometer long, the Finnish Border Guard said.
Finnish broadcaster MTV broadcast interviews with Russian men who had just crossed the border into Finland at Virolahti, including a man named Yuri from Moscow who said that no “sane person” wants to go to war.
Source: TSF
