When Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an escalation of the war in Ukraine on 21 September, it caused strong reactions among world leaders. Putin’s “partial military mobilization” involves calling up 300,000 reservists to take part in the battles against the Ukrainians. Refusing to be drafted into the war can be punished with up to 15 years in prison, according to CNN. According to the human rights organization OVD-Info, around 1,300 Russians were arrested for demonstrating against the war on Wednesday. Most were arrested in the big cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. In an interview with CNN, the organisation’s spokeswoman Maria Kuznetsova says that protesters arrested at at least four police stations in Moscow must have been drafted into the military. According to Kuznetsova, a protester must have been threatened with legal consequences if the person in question does not allow himself to be enrolled. Several different videos and still images showing demonstrators openly protesting Putin’s mobilization order were spread via Telegram and Twitter on Wednesday. This is despite the fact that the demonstrators risk strong punitive reactions from the Russian authorities. 15 years in prison for refusing military service The demonstrations have taken place, among other things, in the Siberian cities of Irkutsk, Novosibirsk and Tomsk, and the city of Ulan Ude in the sub-republic of Buryatia, show videos that Faktik Verifisbarbar has verified. The demonstrators carried placards proclaiming “No to war” and “No to mobilisation”. In a live stream from the demonstrations in St. Petersburg, people can clearly be heard shouting “No to war” as they walk through the streets. A woman is arrested during a demonstration in Moscow on Wednesday. Photo: ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP While the demonstrations were going on, other Russians were looking for a way out. Ticket prices out of Russia skyrocketed after Putin’s speech. Russian Sergey had planned for a mobilization for a long time. When the message came, he put himself and his 17-year-old son on the first flight to Serbia, he tells AP. – The tickets weren’t that expensive, I was probably fast enough. And we got through the border without any problems, says Sergey, who does not want AP to use his surname. His son Nikolai had not yet been drafted into the war, but had already begun to investigate how he could escape. Higher ticket prices and more passengers than usual after Putin’s announcement of a partial mobilization of 300,000 reservists. NOK 91,000 for a plane ticket to Serbia The price of a ticket to Serbia, where Russians can travel visa-free, was around 9,000 euros, or NOK 91,000, on Wednesday. Around 50,000 Russians are said to have fled here after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the agency. Ticket prices to both Dubai and Istanbul in Turkey have also increased sharply after Putin’s mobilization speech. According to Reuters, Finnish border authorities also noticed an increase in traffic on the border with Russia last night. On the Norwegian border with Russia, no such increase has yet been noticed. Russian Vladimir is among those who jumped on the plane to Serbia after Putin announced mobilization. Photo: Darko Vojinovic / AP Norway canceled its visa agreement with Russia on Thursday, according to UDI. The new rules mean that ordinary rules on documentation, multiple-entry visas, fees and processing time also apply to Russian citizens, instead of the simplified rules in the visa facilitation agreement. In addition to the sharp increase in ticket prices, Google Trends shows that words such as “flights”, “dollar rate”, “Aeroflot”, “rally against mobilization”, “mobilization order” are among the most searched words in Russia in the last 24 hours. Words such as “border crossing”, “Poland”, “military commissariat” and “Peskov’s son” are also repeated. Peskov is Putin’s press secretary. According to Ukrainian Pravda, his son, Nikolai Peskov, is said to have been pranked by the political Youtube channel “Popular Politics”, and asked to enlist at 10 o’clock the following day. Nikolai Peskov refused to do this.
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Russian protesters are sent to the military – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
