Since Putin’s partial mobilization, more and more young Russians have been fleeing to neighboring countries. The queues of cars are getting longer and longer in front of Georgia and larger machines are now being chartered for visa-free Istanbul. There is also great hope in Europe.
Ever since the attack on Ukraine began, Andrei says he’s been thinking about leaving Russia. After the Kremlin announced last Wednesday that it would conscript 300,000 more soldiers for the war, the 23-year-old Russian’s decision was made. At the weekend he flew to Turkey with his wife Daria. There is great relief among the arriving Russians at Istanbul Airport. You can see from your luggage that it was packed in a hurry. None of them wanted to give their full name – for fear of reprisals against relatives at home.
“We spoke to our friends and many are considering leaving,” says 22-year-old Daria. “Not everyone wanted to leave the country in February. The September 21 decision forced many of them to reconsider.”
Turkey, a popular holiday destination for Russians, is one of the few countries that still has flights from Russia. And she doesn’t require a visa, making spontaneous travel easier. Flight tickets sold out shortly after President Vladimir Putin announced the partial mobilization. The airline Turkish Airlines began to use larger aircraft on its routes to Russia. Ticket prices multiplied. Andrei is therefore worried about one of his friends: “He couldn’t buy a ticket because it already cost 400,000 rubles (7130 euros), which is ten times more expensive than before.”
At the airport, Sascha, a 48-year-old Russian businessman, also talks about friends who want to flee but are unable to. It is difficult for him to assess the current mood in the country. “There is currently no consensus in Russia. Some people support Putin, others don’t,” he says. Some are also ready to fight in Ukraine. Sascha believes that many are afraid to say what they think. “Of course we feel the pressure. In Russia there is a face surveillance system. And if someone sees your face, it’s very easy to find out who you are,” he says. There could also be problems for the interview he gives.
Getting to neighboring Georgia is a little easier than leaving for Turkey. 10,000 Russians are now arriving every day, Georgian Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri said in Tbilisi today. More than 5,500 cars are stuck in traffic at the border. The northern neighbor Finland is also becoming a place of refuge for many Russians. According to the Finnish border guard, almost 17,000 Russians entered the country at the weekend alone – more than ever before this year.
IT expert Alex has also taken refuge in Finland. The 40-year-old served in the army for eight years. “I have an officer’s rank. I’m the first to be threatened with mobilization,” he says in his modest Finnish hotel room. “I don’t want to kill my brothers and sisters in Ukraine.”
Last Thursday he demonstrated against the war in Saint Petersburg. When he saw how few people protested, he realized that “nothing more could be done” for Russia. He packed a suitcase, left his wife and daughter behind, got in his car and drove across the border. Alex hopes that Europe will take in the conscientious objectors. If the West closes its borders, it will offend those Russians of all people “who still believe in it,” he says. Alex is now doing everything he can to get his family out of Russia – only to never return there again.
