After Vladimir Putin’s mobilization, desperate Russians are fleeing the nation.
Putin called up 300,000 reservists in the country’s first mobilisation since World War II in the largest escalation of the Ukraine war since the invasion.
As citizens flee Russia, one-way flights have surged and sold out.
A family of three would need £44,000 for a 45-hour trip with three layovers to Johannesburg, according to Google.
According to Aviasales, Russia’s most popular flight booking website, direct flights from Moscow to Istanbul in Turkey and Yerevan in Armenia were sold out today.
A family walks past a sign in St. Petersburg that says, “Serving Russia is a real job.”
A family of three would need £44,000 for a 45-hour trip with three layovers to Johannesburg today, according to Google.
Google searches for ‘How to flee Russia’ spiked today as residents feared bloodshed.
Some routes involving stopovers, such Moscow to Tbilisi, were unavailable, while the cheapest flights from Moscow to Dubai cost more than £4,500 – five times the average monthly pay.
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan flights ceased appearing online around noon.
Russian Railways and Aeroflot, the country’s flagship airline, claimed they hadn’t been told to bar 18-to-65-year-old men from boarding.
Searches for ‘How to escape Russia’ topped Google traffic when Putin’s address was originally scheduled, data indicates.
The tyrant’s early-morning TV broadcast fueled fears that certain males of fighting age may be denied exit.
Sergei Shoigu, the defense minister, said students and conscripts won’t be called up.
The alarming escalation of the war has generated fears of widespread conscription.
After 7am in London, the rouble had fallen 2.6% versus the dollar, hitting its lowest value since July 7.
Energy giants Rosneft and Gazprom lost around 12% of their value.
MOEX touched its lowest position since February 24.
A refrigerated train returns from Ukraine with Putin’s dead soldiers.
The rouble-based MOEX index hit its lowest position since Feb. 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine.
The index fell 5.5% to 2,094.5 points after reaching 2,002.73 points.
The dollar-denominated RTS index fell 8% to 1,061.9, its lowest since April 27.
Putin announced the mobilization of 300,000 military reserves and referendums in occupied Ukraine today.
‘If Russia’s territorial integrity is challenged, we will employ all available means to protect Russia and our people – this is not a bluff,’ he said.
Putin claimed the West was using Ukrainians as cannon fodder despite his military hitting civilian targets (pictured)
He accused the West of seeking to ‘divide and destroy’ his country and said, ‘Those trying to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should realize the tables can turn.’
Putin’s gambit comes after Ukraine routed a big part of the Russian army last week, backing him into a hole and threatening his’special military operation’
Instead of backing down, Putin has opted to hold the free world to ransom, putting Russia and its enormous nuclear weapons on a collision course with Ukraine and its allies, who have sworn not to accept’sham’ referendum results or stop freeing occupied land.
It’s estimated that 300,000 people will join the Russian army, double the size of Putin’s invasion force.
It’s unknown when these personnel will be ready, and the move won’t fix Russia’s chronic lack of equipment, supplies, and other logistical challenges that have hampered its invasion thus far.
Putin had resisted proclaiming a mobilisation until now, probably fearing retaliation from Russians who supported his’special military operation’ because they had nothing to lose.
After another devastating military setback near Kharkiv last week, supporters, propagandists, and hardliners pressured him to resign.
Shoigu also claimed in his address that only 6,000 Kremlin troops had been killed.
Ukraine had 61,000 dead and 49,000 wounded, he claimed.
Putin’s speech
Putin issued a fresh nuclear threat to the West in his first address to the Russian people since the start of his war in Ukraine.
The dictator painted NATO as the aggressors, that the Ukrainians tortured their own population, and that Western officials plotted Russia’s annihilation.
Full speech:
Freed people of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia.
We’ll talk about protecting our sovereignty, the will and desire of our citizens to determine their own future, and the aggressive bloc of Western countries trying to keep their supremacy at all costs – trying to block and suppress any independent development centers to force their will in brutal ways on other people.
West wants to weaken and destroy. In 1991, they split the Soviet Union; now it’s Russia’s turn. Russia will be divided into warring regions.
Long-term plans. They backed Caucasus terrorists. They want NATO to invade. Total Russophobia and years of Russia hatred.
Urkaine is first. They created Ukrainians cannon fodder and pushed Ukraine into war with us.
They initiated the conflict in 2014, using the army against civilians and committing genocide, blockade, and terror against anyone who refused to recognize Ukrainian sovereignty after a military coup.
As usual, they opposed a peaceful settlement and claimed the right to deploy nuclear weapons. As before, a second massive offensive in Donbas is inevitable, and a pre-emptive military operation is necessary.
The goal of freeing the entire Donbas continues.
Luhansk is free of Nazis. The battle in Donetsk continues.
The occupation regime has a deep defensive line, thus our army and Donbas military groups are releasing Donetsk People’s Republic step by step, village by village, and helping hostages.
Volunteer units fight with the professional army in the special operation.
Nationalities, occupations, and ages vary. They’re great patriots who safeguard Russia and Donbas.
I asked the Defense Ministry to quickly evaluate the legal status of these areas and the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics’ forces.
They must have the same social guarantees, medical, and financial supplies as Russian professionals.
We must focus on equipping Donbass units with technology and ammunition.
Our troops, based on Defense Ministry and general command directives, freed Kherson and Zaporizhzhia from neo-Nazis.
Over 1,000km of military contact resulted.
Our recommendations to ensure Russia’s security were well-received in Istanbul.
The West wasn’t content with a peaceful choice, so after making agreements, Ukraine was ordered to disrupt the negotiations.
Kyiv began using foreign mercenaries and nationalists, and its force was educated to NATO standards and commanded by westerners.
Ukraine’s military employed violence and intimidation to intensify repression across the country in 2014. It’s barbaric and nasty.
The Novorossiya lands freed from neo-Nazis and the conflict are Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk, and Zaporzhizhia. You’ve witnessed the neo-Nazis’ barbarities in the regions they occupied.
Banderas and Nazi mercenaries torture peaceful citizens.
Before the operation, 7.5 million people lived in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
Neo-Nazis bombard those who remained with rockets and artillery, attacking hospitals, schools, and harmless bystanders.
We have a moral obligation to let tortured loved ones decide their own fate.
The LPR, DPR, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia parliaments have resolved to organize referendums on joining Russia and urged Russia for help.
We will do everything we can to ensure secure referendums so people can express their will and decide the future. We’ll help.
Our army faces not only neo-Nazis but also the West’s military machine on a 1000km frontier.
In light of the threat, I must make the following decision.
In defense of our homeland, to ensure its safety, territorial integrity, and people’s security in free territories, I support the Ministry of Defense and general command’s decision to partially mobilize in the Russian Federation.
It’s partial mobilization. Only those in reserve and with military experience will be conscripted. They’ll get extra military training for the unique operation.
The decree has been signed, and the legislatures will be notified.
Today, September 21, the mobilization begins. I’ve instructed regional chiefs to assist military commissioners. I stress that Russian citizens called up for mobilization will get all the guarantees and advantages of contract soldiers.
The partial mobilisation regulation includes extra steps to safeguard military technology acquisition and manufacturing capacities.
All financing for defense factories must be settled immediately.
The West’s anti-Russian policies are reckless.
We constantly hear threats against our people, and some irresponsible politicians in the West are talking about giving Ukraine long-range military systems that can hit Russia – that’s already happening, we’re talking about the border regions, in Belgorod, and systems using strategic drones, planes, and reconnaissance across the south.
Washington and Brussels aim to invade Russia.
They don’t just mean Russia’s military destruction; they also mean its political, cultural, and other forms of sovereignty being pillaged. Nuclear blackmail is being discussed.
Zaporzhzhia was shelled. High-ranking NATO officials said it would be permissible to use nuclear weapons against Russia.
Those who make such claims will be reminded that our country has destructive weapons that are more advanced than NATO’s.
If our country’s territorial integrity is threatened, we’ll employ all possible methods to safeguard our people. I’m serious.
Russia’s territorial integrity, independence, and security are guaranteed. By all means
Those blackmailing us with nuclear weapons should realize the tables can turn.
In our historical history, our people are destined to stop those trying to oppress our nation, and they will.
I trust you.