Putin’s announcement raised fears that some men of fighting age would not be allowed to leave Russia
One-way flights out of Russia were selling out fast on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin ordered the immediate call-up of 300,000 reservists.
Putin’s announcement, made in an early-morning television address, raised fears that some men of fighting age would not be allowed to leave Russia.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the call-up would be limited to those with experience as professional soldiers, and that students and those who had only served as conscripts would not be called up.
Nevertheless, Google Trends data showed a spike in searches for Aviasales, which is Russia’s most popular website for purchasing flights.
Direct flights from Moscow to Istanbul in Turkey and Yerevan in Armenia, both destinations that allow Russians to enter without a visa, were sold out on Wednesday, according to Aviasales data.
Some routes with stopovers, including those from Moscow to Tbilisi, were also unavailable, while the cheapest flights from the capital to Dubai were costing more than 300,000 roubles (€5,000) – about five times the average monthly wage.
It also comes after Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania closed their borders on Monday to most Russian citizens in response to the wide domestic support in Russia for the war in Ukraine.
Under the coordinated travel ban, Russians wishing to travel to the Baltic countries or Poland as tourists or for business, sports or cultural purposes will not be allowed in even if they hold valid visas for the European Union’s checks-free Schengen Area.
There we have the difference between Ukrainians and russians. russians flee the country instead of fighting against the mafia state.
Yeah really brave!!!!
I saw the speech, with professionally made subs.
He’s not deranged (only my opinion; I might be wrong), but he is definitely a psychopath and most certainly very evil. “The most evil person in the world”, as Bill Browder says.
Putler is Mugabe with nukes.
Mugabe was allowed to stay in power for decades, despite also being incredibly evil and criminally violent. He could have been removed by just one brigade, but of course whitey wouldn’t do it because of colonial guilt. He was allowed to turn a beautiful, bountiful, wealthy country into a literal shithole.
Civilised countries won’t smash putler because he has nukes. Even though he is behaving exactly the same way as Mugabe; albeit on a much greater scale.
Well, there’s also the other difference. Russia is more corrupt. I’m certain that Ukraine has its own nasty criminals, because good and bad are found in all places of the world. But Russia has a lot more corruption than Ukraine, and Russia has a reputation known for punishing good people more so than bad.
I’m trying to remember another period in history when the populace was forced to fight for a regime against their will. I’m struggling…;)
And what result does he expect by forcing them? Anytime you force someone to do something against their will you can end up with maybe 10% of what you expected. Just wait until these 18 – 65 year old meat puppets find out the Oligarch’s sons will get to stay home and drink vodka. Red Square could become very popular…