Some Russian men have rushed for the exits after President Vladimir Putin's military call out, with traffic at border crossings surging and prices for flights from Moscow skyrocketing.
"The mobilisation was inevitable because there was a shortage of human resources. I am not worried because I'm already 59 years old and my son lives abroad," he said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that reports of an exodus of draft-age men were exaggerated.
Asked about reports that men detained at anti-war protests were being given draft papers, Mr Peskov said it was not against the law. Russian state-owned pollsters say that more than 70 per cent of Russians support what the Kremlin calls the "special military operation", though polling leaked in July showed an even split between those who wanted to fighting to stop or continue. The war in Ukraine has killed tens of thousands, unleashed an inflationary wave through the global economy and triggered the worst confrontation with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when many feared nuclear war imminent. Traffic at Finland's most southern crossing point Vaalimaa, stretched for 300-400 metres across three lanes.A tourism industry source told Reuters that there was desperation as people sought to find air tickets out of Russia. "This is panic demand from people who are afraid they won't be able to leave the country later — people are buying tickets not caring where they fly to," the source said. Traffic arriving at Finland's eastern border with Russia "intensified" overnight and remained elevated into daytime hours on Thursday, the Finnish Border Guard said."The number clearly has picked up," the Finnish border guard's head of international affairs, Matti Pitkaniitty, told Reuters, adding that the situation was under control and border guards were ready at nine checkpoints. Traffic from Russia was busier than normal at the Vaalimaa crossing — one of nine with Russia — with three lanes of cars each stretching for 300-400 metres, a border official there told Reuters. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, the other EU countries that border Russian territory, began turning away Russians from crossings at midnight on Monday, saying they should not travel while their country is at war with Ukraine. The Russian national airline, Aeroflot, said it would refund people who were unable to fly as planned because they had received a call-up.
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