Putin closes borders for draft-age men as huge queues form: report

Vladimir Putin is reportedly preparing to prevent conscription-age men from leaving the country while queues try to flee Russia.

Large crowds were seen on the borders of neighboring countries such as Georgia and Finland after President Putin announced a partial mobilization this week.

According to the unbiased Russian media Meduzha, the ban will be implemented by the Kremlin after the end of the ongoing referendums in the four regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporozhye.

Medusa, who named two sources in the Kremlin, said the ban would go into effect on September 28. Information week The Kremlin has been asked for comment.

On September 21, Putin proposed a “partial mobilization of the navy,” which Protection Minister Sergei Shoigu later made clear, which could send as many as 300,000 reservists to accompany the national army’s operations in Ukraine.

The Russian sheikh’s statement raised fears of an escalation in the conflict in Ukraine, though Russia has designated it as a “special naval operation” and sparked protests across the country.

Searches for flights abroad in Russia reportedly soared minutes after Putin’s announcement on March 21.

“There are currently 2,500 cars lined up on the only border between the two countries, from Russia to Georgia. It’s a 36-hour wait,” Reuters reporter Jake Cordell wrote on Sunday.

Another Reuters reporter, Felix Gentle, at the Russian-Georgian border.

“The Georgian-Russian border in Verkhny Lars is usually blocked, but now the pictures on social media are crazy. Watch people on motorcycles crossing, stay away from the pedestrian ban,” he tweeted. , shared a video from the border.

Faced with a potential influx of Russians trying to avoid being drafted into the military and sent to Ukraine, some European countries have closed their borders to Russian holidaymakers.

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia closed their borders to most Russians on September 19 in response to the conflict in Ukraine. After Putin’s speech on Wednesday, the Baltic states said they would not open their borders to Russian men fleeing mobilization, and Lithuania said they would review each case individually.

Finland – another country hit by the sudden exodus of Russian men – closed its border with Russia on Friday. Finland’s foreign ministry defended the choice, saying that providing visas to so many Russians who evade conscription would “seriously damage Finland’s global standing”.

Experts believe that those who meet the Kremlin’s mobilization criteria will find it difficult to bear the Navy’s name, as they may be seen as traitors and branded as unpatriotic.