(MENAFN- Asia Times)
Russian President Vladimir Putin's in the Ukraine war throughout the country and launched an exodus of Russian citizens fearing the draft.
Many who previously supported Putin's“special military operation” in Ukraine are now having second thoughts.
But with the price of airline tickets skyrocketing and flights to the few destinations still available to Russians fully booked, have fled across land borders into Georgia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, where visas aren't required for Russian citizens.
Traffic jams are stretching for many kilometers and it's taking as long as 48 hours to reach border posts. When they finally arrive, Russian citizens are experiencing very different receptions in these three neighboring countries.
In eastern Siberia near Lake Baikal, the Buryat Republic bordering Mongolia is home to many ethnic Mongols. Along with other non-Russian peoples from the Caucasus and elsewhere, Mongols have been sent to the war front in .
Many feel it's not their war, and former Mongolian president Tsakhia Elbegdor has for using Buryats and other ethnic minorities as“cannon fodder.”
Elbegdor, who is currently head of the World Mongol Federation, promised a to Russian citizens fleeing the war, especially ethnic Mongols.
Kazakhstan is welcoming
In Kazakhstan, where nearly have entered the country since Sept. 21, free food, cigarettes and SIM cards are being offered to arriving Russian citizens.
With hotels and apartments either , draft evaders are being offered accommodation in alternate spaces .
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a longtime ally of Putin's, has criticized Russia's war in Ukraine and promised to“” of Russian citizens fleeing the country.
Kazakhstan, which has a , has good reason to be nervous about Russia's invasion of Ukraine since the pretext of“protecting ethnic Russians” could be also used to attack Kazakhstan in the future.
Opportunism at the Georgian border
The situation in the Caucasus region is different. The border crossing at Verkhny Lars between the Russian republic of North Ossetia-Alania and Georgia is a scene of both panic and opportunism.
stretches for more than 30 kilometers, all the way back to the Ossetian capital, Vladikavkaz. This slow-moving caravan has provided a range of business opportunities for enterprising locals, civilians and law enforcement officers alike.
Coffee and sandwich vendors have been doing a thriving business moving up and down the line. Scooters and bicycles, able to breeze past the immobilized traffic, are being at a premium.
Two young Russian men ride bicycles after crossing the border into Georgia on September 27, 2022. Photo: AP / Zurab Tsertsvadze via The Conversation
Those near the head of the line are using social media to in their cars to others further back for . Traffic police, meanwhile, have been stopping motorists on their way to the border and demanding bribes to allow them to continue on their way.
The Georgians, for their part, have presented some of the new arrivals with stating that they oppose the war in Ukraine and that Russia has, since 2008, illegally occupied the Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Sent back to Russia
Anyone who refuses to sign is sent back into Russia. On September 26, the Russian Interior Ministry and troops to guard the border out of fear that mobs might try to circumvent the border post. The following day, plans were announced to set up a“ er” to serve draft papers to men attempting to leave the country.
Many are passing the long hours inching towards the border on their mobile phones, asking for tips on getting across and posting their experiences on .
It's advised to display a“Z” sticker, symbolizing support for the war in Ukraine, on cars while still on Russian territory, but remove it before reaching the Georgian border post, otherwise Georgian officials will refuse entry.
There's also a wealth of information on — assuming anyone makes it that far — and having the correct skin color is said to guarantee preferred treatment for asylum applications.
The scene in Russia
Of course, most Russian citizens do not have the means to flee abroad and must stay to face their destiny. Many are resigned to this, and in time-honored Russian fashion, accept their fate with black humor.
“I'll go to the front,” an acquaintance of mine recently joked.“It will give me a break from my wife.”
A video circulating on Telegram shows a group of laughing drunks on the verge of being bussed off for mobilization.“We'll go wherever we're needed,” , waving a half-empty bottle of vodka.
A group of Russians smile at the border crossing Verkhny Lars between Georgia and Russia on Sept. 23, 2022. Long lines of vehicles have formed at border crossings into Georgia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization to bolster his troops in Ukraine. Photo: AP / Shakh Aivazov / The Conversation
Another clip shows a group of enthusiastic in front of a recruitment center, followed by a sober scene from their barracks where they complain that the rifles they've been issued are as as the broken bedsprings and shredded mattresses of their cots.
Immediately upon issuing his mobilization decree, Putin disappeared on a , leaving his lieutenants to deal with mass protest demonstrations throughout the country and the logistical nightmare of mustering 300,000 new recruits.
The conditions meant to determine who was eligible for the draft were , and it was reported that new conscripts are being sent , without training, supplies or functioning equipment.
Conscripts are being told at orientation to bring their own sleeping bags, to fetch first-aid kits from their cars and to ask their wives, girlfriends and mothers for tampons for staunching bullet wounds. They are also to bring their own winter clothing, cooking utensils and food.
Russians voting with their feet
on September 24 of logistics chief General Dmitry Bulgakov by Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev — who is implicated in war crimes committed during the Russian occupation of Bucha — is unlikely to improve the situation, because Russia's military is and false reporting at all levels.
Russia's latest“troop surge” seems doomed to fail, — and US troops were far better prepared and equipped.
The risk is that every failure motivates Putin to resort to more desperate measures, and brings the world closer to the use of weapons of mass destruction.
A large majority of Russian citizens supported Putin's war as long as others were fighting it, but now that the general population is implicated, many are voting with their feet.
Ordinary Russians have received their wake-up call regarding the actual situation on the ground in Ukraine. Decision-makers at the upper echelons of Russian society may soon receive theirs as well.
, Professor of Religions and Cultures,
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