Citizens fleeing Russia after Putin announce ‘Partial mobilisation’

Flights out of Russia were selling out as Russians sought to flee a partial mobilisation order drafting 300,000 reservists into the army announced by Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

Fears that men of fighting age would not be allowed to leave the country began to spread as the Russian president ordered the call-up, which followed the announcement of referendums to pave the way for the formal annexation of swathes of Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to say whether Russia would close its borders for those who are subject to mobilisation.

Direct flights from Moscow to Istanbul in Turkey and Yerevan in Armenia – both of which allow Russians to enter without a visa – were sold out on Wednesday, according to data from Aviasales.

Other routes, including those from Moscow to Tbilisi, were also unavailable, while the cheapest flights to Dubai were costing more than 300,000 roubles (£4,360) – about five times the average monthly wage.

Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said he was not bluffing on the use of nuclear weapons and ordered partial mobilisation of 300,000 reservists in a last-ditch effort to turn the war in Ukraine in his favour, writes Nataliya Vasilyeva.

Read also: Putin signs decree on ‘partial mobilisation’, conscription of Russian citizen reserve to military

The Russian president, who has for months assured Russians that the war will be fought only by professionals, told the nation in a televised speech that hostilities in Ukraine now threaten the very existence of Russia.

“The goal of the West is to weaken, tear apart and destroy our country in the end,” he said as he insisted partial mobilisation was necessary to “protect sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Russia.”