Russian troops have been deployed on the border with Georgia today, even as the Kremlin tries to banish rumors that Putin is about to impose martial law and ban people from leaving to avoid being enlisted in the army enlisted.
The geolocation of the small town of Chmi, on the main road from Russia to the Georgian region of South Ossetia, shows at least six soldiers sitting on top of an armored vehicle, passing a line of cars toward the crosswalk.
Troops arrived to set up a checkpoint, sources told Russia’s RBC network, with the FSB saying they had been sent to prevent people from storming the crossing after miles of lines of men trying to dodge the built-up draft.
But it raised fears that Putin is preparing to seal Russia’s borders to prevent men from fleeing conscription, amid reports that 260,000 people have fled in just five days.
Russian troops have been deployed to the border with Georgia, where huge queues have formed as men try to flee the country to evade Putin’s draft order
The FSB said the soldiers were there to prevent disorder as the Kremlin tried to stamp out rumors that Putin is about to declare martial law
Dmitry Peskov, who was asked today about rumors of border closures and martial law, insisted he had no idea about such plans.
“No decisions have been made for the time being,” he told reporters in Moscow.
meduza was the first to report rumors that the borders could be sealed, citing a source within the presidential palace who also revealed the figure estimated to have fled across the border
In a rare confession, the Kremlin admitted to making “mistakes” in its mobilization, saying Putin’s order to recruit 300,000 men with military experience had not been followed after footage showed men and students from middle-aged were called up.
But, Peskov stressed, ‘the number of cases of non-compliance (of the decree) is decreasing. We hope that this will go faster and that all errors will be corrected.”
However, there were few signs of compliance improving today when a commissioner in the Siberian region of Irkutsk was gunned down in a design bureau.
Investigators said the suspect was a 25-year-old resident, and a woman who identified herself as his mother said he was “very upset” after his friend – who had no previous military experience – was issued summons.
“They said there would be a partial mobilization, but it turns out they’re taking everyone,” the woman, Marina Zinina, said, according to local media.
Huge queues have formed along the main road that runs from Russia to Georgia, amid reports that 260,000 Russians have fled the country in just five days
Putin last week ordered 300,000 military reservists to be called up to support his failing war in Ukraine, but many have fled fears the net will be cast much larger
Regional Governor Igor Kobzev said a recruiting officer was injured and “doctors are fighting for his life.”
“I am ashamed that this is happening at a time when we should be united. We should not fight each other, but against real threats,” Kobzev said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “partial” mobilization last week after Moscow’s military faced a devastating counter-offensive that drove them back from much of Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region.
The announcement sparked panic and demonstrations, detaining more than 2,000 anti-mobilization protesters across the country.
Critics have accused the Kremlin of concentrating conscription efforts in remote regions such as Siberia or the North Caucasus populated by ethnic minorities in order to avoid dissension in urban centers, particularly Moscow.
Authorities in the North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan have arrested more than 100 people in anti-mobilization protests, an NGO that oversees the police said.
Footage on social media showed violent clashes between protesters and police in the poor, Muslim-majority republic, where more men have been killed in Ukraine than in any other part of Russia, according to a death report compiled by Russian media.
Putin received Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi today, who told him that ‘our cause is just’ and ‘we will win’
“Why are you taking our children with you?” a woman could be heard screaming in protest videos shown by Russian media.
The OVD-Info police monitoring group said 24 people had been arrested Sunday in similar protests in Yakutsk, the capital of the vast East Siberian region of Yakutia.
Since Putin’s announcement last week, there have been several attacks on recruitment centers in Russian regions.
Authorities said attackers had attempted to set fire to an office in the southern city of Volgograd in the early morning of Monday.
Analysts have said the mobilization sparked protests against the Kremlin in regions normally loyal to Moscow’s political ambitions and could hurt Putin’s popularity.
The mobilization showed signs of further economic pressure, exacerbating Western sanctions against Moscow for sending troops into Ukraine.
Moscow’s stock market plunged 10 percent on Monday to its lowest point since Russia began its Ukraine offensive seven months ago.