many have waited “ten o’clock” in their cars before successfully crossing the border with Georgia on Thursday, says the independent Russian site Medusa. As airfare prices from Moscow soared after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial military mobilization, many Russians are trying to leave the country by road. Border crossings to Finland and Georgia from Russia have “intensified” overnight, local authorities said Thursday.
In Georgia, “one of the few countries neighboring Russia where Russians can enter without a visa”witnesses told the BBC only one “5 km long line of cars” had formed at the Upper Lars checkpoint. “Finland, which shares a 1,300 km border with Russia also reported an increase in traffic overnight.” Helsinki announced on Thursday that it was also considering banning most Russian nationals from entering its territory.
The Czech Republic, for its part, affirmed that it would not issue humanitarian visas to Russians fleeing their country to avoid mobilization, adopting a different position there compared to other countries of the European Union, in particular Germany which said on Thursday that it was ready to welcome the deserters.
Putin’s decisions could ‘turn Russians against the war’
As thousands of Russian families began to bid farewell to their mobilized sons and husbands, Putin “faces the fury” many Russians, says the Washington Post. “More than 1,300 people were arrested during anti-mobilization protests in cities and towns across Russia on Wednesday and Thursday, in the largest public protests since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24”, notes the American daily. In the town of Togliatti, a local military recruiting office was set on fire on Thursday. Dozens of similar attacks have taken place across Russia in recent months, the newspaper said. “As his room for maneuver has shrunk, Putin has made increasingly perilous decisions that could turn Russians against the war”concludes the Washington Post.
While Putin initially said on Wednesday that “Russia would only implement a ‘partial’ mobilization targeting reservists with military experience, numerous testimonies from across the country seem to indicate that some Russians began to be conscripted when they never served in the army”reports the Moscow Times.
“Russian diplomats are also fleeing”
Faced with the wave of Russian discontent and the rush at the borders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took the opportunity on Thursday to urge the Russians to stand up against the mobilization announced by the Kremlin. “55,000 Russian soldiers were killed in this war in six months […] Want more? Nope ? So protest! Fight! Run away ! Or meet” to the Ukrainian army, he launched in Russian in his traditional video address. “These are your options to survive”.
Meeting Thursday at the UN, the foreign ministers of the Security Council demanded that Russia be held accountable for its invasion of Ukraine. But their Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov preferred to leave the room to avoid being confronted with their complaints, diplomats told CNN. “He doesn’t want to hear”launched the British James Cleverly, while the Ukrainian Dmytro Kouleba, guest, judged that“Like Russian soldiers on the battlefield, Russian diplomats are also fleeing”.