After Vladimir Putin shocked Russia by announcing the first mobilization since World War II, Russians are fleeing the country. The stories were told by the British newspaper The Guardian after the call on Wednesday (21).

Russians try to flee after being drafted into the army – Photo: Aris Messinis/AFP/ND

The call for reservists comes after heavy defeats suffered by Russian forces in September as a result of a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the northeast and east of the country. This also coincides with the organization of annexation referendums in the territories occupied by Moscow.

The Russian army said on Thursday (22) that about 10,000 people have volunteered to fight in Ukraine in the past 24 hours.

The newspaper Folha de São Paulo reported that, according to the decision of the Moscow City Hall, those who decide to go to war will be compensated. This is BRL 260,000 for death, BRL 86,000 for major injuries and BRL 43,000 for minor injuries. There will also be a monthly bonus of 43,000 reais for those who come from the city and serve in the war.

The decree was published shortly after Putin’s speech at 9 am (3 am in Brazil) on Wednesday (21).

Russians flee

However, the British newspaper spoke to more than a dozen men and women who left Russia after Putin announced the so-called partial mobilization or plan to do so in the coming days.

According to sources, escape options are limited. Earlier this week, four of the five EU (European Union) countries bordering Russia announced that they would no longer allow Russians to enter on tourist visas.

Direct flights from Moscow to Istanbul, Yerevan, Tashkent and Baku, the capitals of countries that allow Russians to enter without visas, are sold out for next week, and the cheapest one-way flight from Moscow to Dubai costs about 370,000. rubles (about 5000 reais) – a very high rate for most.

Border guards in Finland, the last EU country to still allow Russians to enter on tourist visas, said they spotted an “exceptional number” of Russian citizens trying to cross the border at night, while eyewitnesses also reported that Russians-Georgians and Russians- Mongolia’s borders were “collapsed” due to excessive traffic.

“We are seeing an even bigger exodus than when the war started,” said Ira Lobanovskaya, who founded the Free World Guide, an NGO that helps anti-war Russians leave the country.

She said that more than 1.5 million people have visited her website since Putin’s speech on Wednesday. Lobanovskaya estimates that more than 70,000 Russians who have used the group’s services have either left or specifically planned to leave.

Border guards at Russian airports have also begun interrogating departing male passengers about their military status and checking their return ticket.

After thousands of Russians protested against the war and mobilization on Wednesday, some on social media criticized the protesters for not speaking out sooner as their country’s troops committed human rights abuses in Bucha, Irpen and many other Ukrainian cities.

protests

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday urged Russians to “protest” against the Kremlin’s announced mobilization of reservists or “surrender” to Kyiv forces.

“Fifty-five thousand Russian soldiers died in this war in six months (…) Do you want more? Not? So protest! Fight! run away! Or surrender,” he said in Russian in a video message.

According to Zelensky, the Russian authorities were preparing to mobilize “up to a million people.”

Officially, Moscow announced on the eve of the mobilization of 300,000 reservists on Wednesday.

The Minister refused to meet the UN Security Council

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov left a meeting of the UN Security Council after accusing Ukraine and its Western allies of “impunity” in the Donbas.

Ukraine and its allies were trying to “impose on us a completely different narrative of Russian aggression,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov was almost 90 minutes late for the Security Council meeting and looked like he wanted to leave as soon as he finished speaking.

exchange of prisoners

On Wednesday, Ukraine announced a record exchange with Russia of 215 arrested soldiers, including fighters who led the defense of the Mariupol Azovstal steel plant, which has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

“Many of them were subjected to severe torture,” Ukrainian Interior Minister Kyrylo Budanov said at a press conference, without specifying any details about signs of torture.

Some of the detainees “are in a more or less normal physical condition, with the exception of chronic malnutrition due to poor detention conditions,” Budanov said.

According to a high-ranking official, the prisoners were kept in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russian troops, as well as in Russia itself.

At the same press conference, the minister stated that “absolutely all” of the exchanged Ukrainian prisoners “need psychological rehabilitation.

Information about the exchange of prisoners was also published by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on his official Twitter account.

We returned 215 people from Russian captivity: 188 defenders #Azovstal and Mariupol. 108 Azov, National Guardsmen, marines, border guards, policemen, territorial defense, SBU officers. Now they are safe. We remember and try to save everyone. 1/3

— Vladimir Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) September 22, 2022