成千上万的俄罗斯人继续试图逃离这个国家,他们害怕被卷入这场战争弗拉基米尔·普京总统下令进行军事动员上周补充他在乌克兰的兵力。
随着大批人离开,在与一些邻国的边境口岸形成了数英里长的交通线路,因为俄罗斯人挤满了出境路线,担心政府可能很快对适龄男性离境实施进一步限制。
与俄罗斯南部接壤的哈萨克斯坦官员表示,自普京上周三宣布动员以来,已有9.8万名俄罗斯人进入他们的国家。格鲁吉亚内政部星期二告诉美国广播公司,在过去几天里,有10万人进入格鲁吉亚。成千上万的人通过其他国家离开,包括芬兰和蒙古。欧盟边境服务局表示,过去一周有66,000名俄罗斯人进入欧盟,比前一周多30%。
在普京下令动员30万人进行他所谓的“部分”动员,以扭转他在乌克兰摇摇欲坠的战争进程后几小时内,俄罗斯人开始逃离该国。专家说,实际上,对应征入伍的人几乎没有什么限制,而且有大量报道称,男性无论是否符合条件都被征召入伍。
虽然目前的动员正式意味着只适用于那些有一些军事经验的人,但许多人担心标准可能会扩大,政府可能会阻止适龄男性离开这个国家。应征入伍的男子被禁止出国,有大量报道称有从军经历的男子被边境拒之门外。
在俄罗斯与格鲁吉亚接壤的Verkhny Lars过境点,据那里的记者称,数百辆汽车排成了一行,延伸约12英里,数千人在等待,一些人睡在车里。BBC援引俄罗斯海关部门的消息称,目前有2500辆汽车在排队等候。
俄罗斯当局周二证实,拥有装甲车的俄罗斯军队在该过境点设立了一个检查站,让那些被征召的人返回,并在那里分发征兵文件。官员们表示,边境口岸还设立了一个流动征兵办公室。
哈萨克斯坦与俄罗斯有近5000英里长的边境线,入境制度宽松,吸引了大量出境游客,边境口岸人满为患。一名37岁的男子周一在Oral-Uralsk过境点附近进入哈萨克斯坦,他说在一个检查站等候的车辆现在排到了近20英里。
“只有一条地狱般的线——它是无穷无尽的。此外,在所有的检查站,”这名来自莫斯科郊外城市特维尔的经理在电话中说。由于害怕受到俄罗斯当局的惩罚,他要求匿名。
这名男子说,他花了20个小时从莫斯科乘车来到边境,现在在哈萨克斯坦一侧的边境城市乌拉尔斯克。尽管他目前没有服兵役的经历,但他表示,他仍然决定逃离,因为他担心边境很快会被关闭,并且不相信会与乌克兰作战。
“有一种风险是,以后你会发现自己只是在一个笼子里,”他说。
他说,尽管口袋里只有250美元,他还是选择了离开,并计划在哈萨克斯坦找到工作之前,先住在亲戚家。
“我在为自己的艰难时刻做准备。我正在为自己做准备,我不知道在哪里睡觉,我要吃什么,”他说。
一名为俄罗斯媒体Novaya Gazeta.eu撰稿的当地记者写道,在乌拉尔斯克的街道上可以看到数百名携带行李的俄罗斯男子。据报道,当地政府征用了一家电影院来安置一些涌入的人。
A group of Russians walk after crossing the border at Verkhny Lars between Georgia and Russia in Georgia, on Sept. 27, 2022.
祖拉布·采尔茨瓦泽/美联社
这场突如其来的动员让数百万俄罗斯人突然意识到了这场战争,此前几个月,克里姆林宫一直试图将其描述为一场对人们日常生活影响甚微的遥远冲突。在Telegram社交媒体平台上,群聊如雨后春笋般涌现,俄罗斯人焦急地交换关于潜在过境点的信息,并寻找前往边境的交通地点。一个名为“自由世界指南”的聊天工具有超过100,000名成员。克里姆林宫表示,目前还没有决定是否关闭俄罗斯边境以回应俄罗斯的动员。
周一,当记者问及俄罗斯独立媒体关于克里姆林宫正在考虑在未来几天关闭的报道时,普京的发言人佩斯科夫说,他“对此一无所知”
“目前,还没有就此做出任何决定,”他说。
南部库尔干和秋明地区的联邦安全局分支机构告诉塔斯社,边防警卫正在阻止那些被动员的人,通知他们必须到他们的征兵办公室。
Russians who fled Putin's mobilization speak out
Tens of thousands of Russians continue to try to flee the country, fearful of being caught up in themilitary mobilization ordered by president Vladimir Putinlast week to replenish his forces in Ukraine.
Miles-long lines of traffic have formed at border crossings with some neighboring countries amid the exodus, as Russians pack exit routes, worried the government might soon impose further restrictions on military age men leaving.
Officials in Kazakhstan, which borders Russia to the south, said 98,000 Russians have crossed into their country since Putin announced the mobilization last Wednesday. Georgia's interior ministry told ABC News Tuesday that 100,000 had entered its territory in the past few days. Tens of thousands more have left via other countries, including Finland and Mongolia. The European Union's border service said 66,000 Russians had entered the bloc over the past week, 30% more than the week before.
Russians began fleeing the country within hours of Putin's ordering what he called a "partial" mobilization to call-up 300,000 men in an effort to reverse the course of his faltering war in Ukraine. In reality, experts say there are little restrictions on who can be drafted and there are widespread reports of men being mobilized regardless of their eligibility.
Although the mobilization for now is officially meant to apply only to those with some military experience, many fear the criteria could be expanded and that the government could block military age men from leaving the country. Men subject to the draft are barred from leaving the country and widespread reports are emerging of men with military experience being turned back from borders.
At the Verkhny Lars crossing where Russia borders Georgia, a line of hundreds of cars has formed, stretching back around 12 miles, according to journalists there, with thousands of people waiting, some sleeping in their cars. The BBC reported 2,500 cars were currently in the line, citing Russia's customs service.
Russian authorities on Tuesday confirmed that Russian troops with armored vehicles had set up a checkpoint at the crossing to turn back those subject to the call-up and were handing out draft papers there. Officials said a mobile enlistment office had also been set up at the border crossing.
Kazakhstan, which has a nearly 5,000 mile-long border with Russia and a relaxed entry regime, has become a magnet for those leaving, with border crossings swamped. A 37-year-old man who entered Kazakhstan Monday near the Oral-Uralsk crossing said the line of traffic waiting at one checkpoint point now stretched nearly 20 miles.
"There's simply a hellish line -- it's endless. And moreover at all checkpoints," the man, a manager from Tver, a city just outside Moscow, said by phone. He asked to remain anonymous for fear of punishment by the Russian authorities.
The man said he had spent 20 hours by road to reach the border from Moscow and was now in the border city of Uralsk, on the Kazakhstan side. Although he is currently not subject to the draft because he has no military experience, he said he had still decided to flee because he feared the borders being closed soon and did not believe in fighting against Ukraine.
"There is a risk that later you will simply find yourself in a cage," he said.
He said he had chosen to leave despite having only $250 in his pocket and planned to stay with relatives initially, before finding work in Kazakhstan.
"I'm preparing myself for a hard time. I'm preparing myself that I won't know where to sleep, what I'm going to eat," he said.
A local journalist writing for the Russian outlet Novaya Gazeta.eu wrote, that hundreds of Russian men with luggage could be seen on the streets in Uralsk. Local authorities have reportedly commandeered a cinema to house some of the influx.
The sudden mobilization has abruptly brought home the war for millions of Russians, after months during which the Kremlin has sought to present it as a distant conflict with little effect on people's daily lives. Group chats have sprung up on the Telegram social media platform, where Russians anxiously trade information about potential crossing points and look for spots on transport headed over the borders. One chat called Guide to the Free World, has over 100,000 members.
The Kremlin has said for now it has made no decision on whether to close Russia's borders in response to the mobilization.
Asked by journalists on Monday about reports in independent Russian media that the Kremlin was considering closures in the coming days, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was "not aware of anything about that."
"At the present moment, no decisions have been taken on that account," he said.
The branches of the Federal Security Service in the southern Kurgan and Tyumen regions told the TASS state news agency, that border guards were stopping those subject to mobilization, informing them they must appear at their enlistment offices.