Some Russians flee from Putin's Ukraine war call-up

Cars queue to cross the border from Russia to Finland at the Nuijamaa border check point in Lappeenranta, Finland, Sept. 22. Reuters-Yonhap

Some draft-age Russians rushed to the borders on Thursday to escape their country's biggest conscription drive since World War Two, while explosions shook southeastern Ukraine on the eve of referendums planned there by pro-Moscow separatists.

President Vladimir Putin's new mobilization campaign escalates the seven-month-old war that has killed thousands, displaced millions, pulverized cities, damaged the global economy and revived Cold War confrontation.

Though surveys have suggested widespread domestic backing for Russia's intervention in Ukraine, mass conscription may be a risky move domestically after past Kremlin promises it would not happen and a string of battlefield failures in Ukraine.

"Every normal person is (concerned)," said one man, identifying himself only as Sergey, disembarking in Belgrade after a flight from Moscow. "It is OK to be afraid of the war."

Anti-war protests in 38 Russian cities saw more than 1,300 people arrested on Wednesday, a monitoring group said. Some of the detainees had been ordered to report to enlistment offices on Thursday, the first full day of conscription, independent news outlets said. More rallies are planned for the weekend.

Russia said reports of a mass exodus were exaggerated.

Russian news agencies meanwhile reported on Thursday that 10,000 people had volunteered to fight even before their call-up papers had arrived, citing the Russian General Staff.

Putin's defense minister has said the mobilization is intended to enlist about 300,000 men.

Prices for air tickets from Moscow soared above $5,000 for one-way flights to the nearest foreign locations, with most sold out for coming days. Traffic also surged at border crossings with Finland and Georgia.

One Russian man arriving at Istanbul Airport said he left partly over the Kremlin's decision. "It can lead to lots of problems for lots of Russians," said Alex, grabbing his suitcase at a baggage carousel.

A truck driver who crossed the Russian-Kazakh border near the Kazakh city of Oral said he saw unusually heavy traffic from the Russian side. A tourism industry source said there was desperation as people sought to find air tickets out of Russia.

National airline Aeroflot said it would refund people unable to fly as planned because they had received a call-up.

Russia begins troop mobilization for Ukraine fight

2022-09-23 09:47 | World

Passengers get off a bus as they wait to enter Finland from Russia at the Nuijamaa border checkpoint in Lappeenranta, Finland, on Sept. 22. Reuters-Yonhap

'Totally unacceptable'

As well as the mobilization, Putin effectively announced plans to annex four Ukrainian provinces, saying on Wednesday Moscow would assist with referendums on joining them to Russia. He also threatened to use nuclear weapons to defend his country.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Thursday that talk of a nuclear conflict was "totally unacceptable".

He also effectively warned Russia against taking the territories saying, "any annexation of a state's territory by another state resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the U.N. Charter and of international law".

Ukraine and its allies have dismissed the plans for referendums in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces from Friday until Sept. 27 as a "sham" to try and legitimize an illegal land grab.

The Security Council has been unable to take any meaningful action on Ukraine because Russia is a permanent veto-wielding member along with the United States, France, Britain and China. Thursday's meeting was at least its 20th on Ukraine this year.

On the ground, Russia's military fired nine missiles on the city of Zaporizhzhia, hitting a hotel and a power station, regional governor Oleksandr Starukh said. At least one person died with others trapped under rubble, he added. Zaporizhzhia is about 50 km (30 miles) from the nuclear plant of the same name.

In the Russian-held southern city of Melitopol, also in the Zaporizhzhia region, a blast hit a crowded market. The city's exiled mayor said it had killed three soldiers and was staged by occupying forces to accuse Ukraine of terrorism. A member of the Russian-installed local administration accused Ukrainian special services of trying to cause chaos on the eve of voting.

In further violence, Russian-installed separatists said at least six civilians had been killed and six more injured in a missile strike on a market in central Donetsk on Thursday.

Bodies lay on the street next to a wrecked bus surrounded by debris and twisted metal. A firefighter hugged a sobbing woman whose daughter had been killed inside the vehicle.

A Reuters reporter saw five dead people in the separatist-controlled city, including a teenager, and several wounded.

Putin says Russia is carrying out a "special military operation" to demilitarize Ukraine, rid it of dangerous nationalists and defend Moscow from transatlantic alliance NATO. Kyiv and the West call Russia's actions an unprovoked, imperialist move to reconquer a country that shook off Russian domination with the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union.

Moscow does not fully control any of the four regions it is apparently seeking to annex, with only around 60% of Donetsk and 66% of Zaporizhzhia regions held by its forces.

Ukraine extended its hold on recaptured northeastern territory earlier this week as troops marched farther into areas abandoned by Russia, paving the way for a potential assault on occupation forces in the Donbas industrial heartland.
Russia and Ukraine carried out an unexpected prisoner swap on Wednesday, the largest since the war began and involving almost 300 people, including 10 foreigners.

"We're now out of the danger zone and on our way home to our families," one of those whom Russian forces released, Briton Aiden Aislin, said in a video from a plane posted on social media. "By the skin of our teeth," added his compatriot Shaun Pinner.

Both men had been sentenced to death by a court in the Russian-backed breakaway region of Donetsk. (Reuters)