Tickets for the Moscow-Belgrade flights operated by Air Serbia,the only European carrier besides Turkish Airlines to maintain flights to Russia despite a European Union flight embargo,quickly sold out for the next several days. The price for flights from Moscow to Istanbul or Dubai increased within minutes before jumping again,reaching as high as €9200 ($13,600) for a one-way economy class fare.
Putin’s decree stipulates that the number of people called to active duty will be determined by the Defence Ministry. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a televised interview that 300,000 reservists with relevant combat and service experience initially would be mobilised.
Russia has seen a marked exodus of citizens since Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine almost seven months ago. During Putin’s address to the nation on Wednesday in which he announced the partial mobilisation of reservists,he also issued a veilednuclear threat to Russia’s enemies in the West.
Reports of panic spreading among Russians soon flooded social networks. Anti-war groups said the limited airplane tickets out of Russia reached enormous prices due to high demand and swiftly became unavailable. Social networks in Russian surged with advice on how to avoid the mobilisation or leave the country.
Some postings alleged people already had been turned back from Russia’s land border with Georgia and that the website of the state Russian railway company had collapsed because too many people were checking for ways out of the country.
The OVD-Info monitoring group said more than 800 Russians were arrested Wednesday in anti-war protests in 37 Russian cities,including Moscow and St. Petersburg. Protesters in Moscow chanted “No to war!” and “Life to our children!”