The last few days have been characterized by stress, anxiety and very little sleep for Russian mother Victoria Muchnik. Her 20-year-old son got out of Russia on Tuesday. After Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial military mobilization, several Russians have chosen to leave their homeland. Among them are many men who fear being sent to the war in Ukraine. – The mobilization is taking place now. They almost roll people in. You hear many different stories. Among other things, that they bring in people who are too old. Everything is very unpredictable. – It is very scary to be a man in Russia now, says Victoria. However, traffic into Norway has not been particularly high, despite the notice of mobilization. Far more Russians have crossed the border into Finland. Fleeing to Armenia Victoria and her husband are both journalists, and left their homeland when Russia went to war against Ukraine last winter. While Putin called the action a special operation, the pair of journalists called the war a war. An action that caused their website to be blocked, and for which you can now get 15 years in prison. The trip went to Yerevan in Armenia. Son Lev joined first, as they feared he would be conscripted. But after a period he moved back to Russia to study. Since the notice of mobilization came last week, they have worked intensely to get their son out of Russia. – Even if students are exempt from the lists of those who are mobilised, the borders may close in the next few days. Then it may become impossible for men of war age to leave Russia. So we had to try now, says the mother. – All our friends and relatives are trying to send men out of the country. For the last 3-4 days, people have only been concerned with this. According to the online newspaper Meduza, the Russian authorities are going to close the border to all men of working age from 28 September. However, this has not been confirmed from any source. – I am afraid of what is happening But getting out of Russia right now is easier said than done. They first tried to find plane tickets out of the country. Many were sold out. – When the information that the borders could close came, it became completely impossible to buy a ticket. A ticket to Istanbul from Moscow cost 10,000 dollars, she says. The solution was the son’s Schengen visa. Holders of this can currently enter Europe from Russia via Finland or Norway. – Fortunately, it is quite reasonable to fly from Moscow to Murmansk. But those prices are also growing, says Victoria. It takes around three hours to drive from Murmansk to the border station at Storskog. But several people news has spoken to say that it is difficult to find transport. There are few drivers and the prices are very high. – I think this was the last chance. I am afraid of what is happening, says son Lev. – I think it is perhaps the last opportunity to leave the country now, says son Lev Muchnik. He came across Storskog on Tuesday. Photo: Stian Strøm / news Victoria first found someone who could drive to Kirkenes for 1,000 euros. Then she spoke to several friends who have moved out of Russia and who now live in Norway. – There was a hotel in Zapolyarny that we booked a room on Monday evening and were picked up there, says Lev. Grateful that Norway has not closed the border. The first checkpoint is on the way from Murmansk to the city they spent the night in, Zapoljarny. – It was absolutely terrible. We were there for almost two hours and the Russian Armed Forces pressured us to say that we fled. We didn’t. One of us had an invitation to the Bergen Film Festival and another was going to visit his mother, who lives in Amsterdam, he says. The first leg took a long time for Lev and the other men who fled. – I think we started in Murmansk at 6pm and arrived in Zapolyarny at 9.30pm. – Now it went quite smoothly across the border. What took time was the queue. The son came across Storskog on Tuesday together with several other Russian men. – We are very grateful. I would like to thank Norway for not being one of the countries in the series to close its borders to Russians. We are not fleeing Russia because life is good, says Victoria. Lev’s father and mother are waiting for him in Armenia, now that he has gotten out of Russia. Photo: Private Don’t know what the future holds. In a few days, the son will be in Armenia with his parents. Both mother and son are relieved that he got out of Russia. At the same time, they do not know what the future will be like. – The future is difficult to say anything about. We are only able to see one to two weeks into the future. Putin has taken away our future. We have no answers. Our son is dropping out of his studies, we don’t know what he’s going to do, says Victoria.
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Young men escape from Russia via Norway – news Troms and Finnmark
