The number of people arriving at the borders from Russia has increased significantly since Putin announced a military mobilization
Handout / Satellite Image ©2022 Maxar Applications / AFP
Since the President of Russia, Wladimir Putinannounced a military mobilization to send reinforcements UkraineHundreds of Russians began to flee the country to avoid war. Border regions, which they do not need a visa to enter, were the main choice. Georgia and Kazakhstan, two countries bordering Russia, confirmed a significant increase in arrivals of Russians this Tuesday, the 27th. “The number has increased to almost 10,000 a day. There were 11,200 on Sunday and just under 10,000 on Monday, up from 5,000 to 6,000 before Putin’s September 21 announcement,” Georgian Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri said. On the Georgian border, authorities in Russia’s North Ossetia region admitted that the situation at the Verkhni Lars checkpoint was “tense”. In Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, authorities said 98,000 Russian nationals had arrived in the country since September 21 but did not release comparable data with the previous week. Kazakh President Kasim Jomart Tokayev said Tuesday the country will protect Russians fleeing to its territory to avoid conscription.
“In the last few days, many people have come to our country from Russia. Most had to leave because of a dead end,” Tokayev said, according to Russian news agencies. “We have to take care of them, guarantee their safety,” added this Moscow ally, who distanced himself from the Kremlin after Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. To stem the flight and bring reservists under control, local authorities announced the establishment of a military mobilization post at the border to recruit reservists attempting to leave the country. On Monday, the Kremlin said it had not yet made a decision about closing the borders. “At the moment, no decision has been made in this regard,” said spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Speculations about the exit ban, especially after Sergei Tsekov, a top lawmaker, said that “everyone of draft age should be banned from traveling abroad in the current situation,” fueled further uproar and fueled a desire to leave Russia. Satellite images from Maxar Technologies show the long lines of cars that have formed along Russia’s borders with Georgia and Mongolia.
*With information from AFP