TBILISI: After President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization, some Russian men hurried to the borders on Thursday. As a result, air ticket prices from Moscow skyrocketed and traffic at border crossings with Finland and Georgia increased.
Putin ordered Russia’s first deployment since World War Two and supported a plan to seize significant swaths of Ukraine, sending a strong message to the West that he meant business when he said he would be willing to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia on Wednesday.
The majority of departures from Moscow were fully booked for the forthcoming days, with one-way tickets to the closest overseas locations costing over $5,000.A list of “where to flee away right now from Russia” was supplied by one website, and social media groups also offered advice on where to go. Long traffic lineups existed at border crossings in Georgia.
Sergei, a Russian who wouldn’t reveal his last name, remarked when he landed in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, “War is dreadful.”It’s acceptable to be terrified of death, war, and such similar things.”One Russian guy, who went by the name of Alex, claimed in Istanbul that the mobilization was in part to blame for his departure from Russia.
He explained that one of the reasons he was there was partial mobilization. Vasily, a different Russian, came to Istanbul with his wife, adolescent daughter, and six suitcases. He supplied no additional information about himself.
“Due to a lack of staff resources, the mobilization could not be avoided. I am not concerned because my son is abroad and I am already 59 years old,” he remarked.Near the Kazakh city of Oral, a truck driver who crossed the Russian-Kazakh border on Thursday reported noticing abnormally considerable traffic on the Russian side of the border.
