The first video to emerge of Russian men recording themselves after President Vladimir Putin ordered partial mobilization shows grieving men saying goodbye to their wives, girlfriends and children.

Footage published by Tayga.info, a local website in Siberia, and shared by The Guardian’s Russia and Ukraine correspondent Peter Sauer shows how many men from a small town in Yakutia were put on buses to be taken to military headquarters on Thursday morning .

Speaking immediately after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech on Wednesday morning, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that 300,000 “reservists” would be mobilized in the first phase, a figure he said represented “only a small fraction” of the capabilities at the disposal of the Russian armed forces. forces

Putin, on the other hand, was somewhat more nuanced in his statements, saying that priority would be given to “those who served in the armed forces.” But given that military service in Russia is compulsory, this would mean that practically all men in the country who were not exempted from it for various reasons could be included, as noted by international press correspondents.

In addition, the Ministry of Defense of Russia has secreted a clause in the mobilization decree that specifies the exact number of soldiers to be drafted, raising fears that it may actually be higher than what was officially declared by Sergei Shoigu.

Oleksandr Avdonin, the head of the military commissariat of the Yakut region, where the men were photographed, said on Thursday morning that the soldiers would receive a monthly stipend of 205,000 rubles (about 3,400 euros), which is “equivalent to military personnel.” under contract (without professional military)”.

UPDATE: However, footage that later surfaced on social media shows that not all servicemen seem to be so reluctant to go to war.

The reaction in Russia after the partial mobilization decree

Immediately after Putin’s speech on Wednesday morning, some anti-war activists called for nationwide protests, warning that once partial mobilization was announced, “war will come to every home” in Russia.

“Thousands of Russian men – our fathers, brothers and husbands – will be thrown into the meat grinder of war. What will they die for? What will mothers and children shed tears for?” – said in a statement published by the St. Petersburg youth movement Vesna.

Small-scale protests erupted in 39 cities across Russia, with authorities arresting more than 1,000 people by Wednesday evening, who were assaulted and brutalized by law enforcement even during peaceful protests.

Some of the men detained by law enforcement officers were ordered to join the army at police stations.

Imprisoned dissident Oleksiy Navalny, for his part, warned that with the decree on mobilization, Putin wants to “contaminate the hands of hundreds of thousands more people with blood.”

“Everything is done so that one person can keep his power and continue it,” he condemned, warning the West not to ignore Putin’s threats with “nuclear weapons.”

• On the same topic: How did the Russians decide that they should go to war? Raid on Russian social networks: “Deputies, drunkards and drug addicts should be sent first. Leave the boys alone!!!”

After Putin’s statement, many Russians began to leave the country

After the announcement made by leader Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, requests for flights from Russia to destinations outside the country sold out or ended up being sold at astronomical prices.

According to a screenshot from a website selling plane tickets, which was shared yesterday in Russia on Telegram and WhatsApp, the most expensive one would cost one million rubles (€16,600).

Since February 27, the European Union has closed the airspace for Russian planes.

Later, long queues of cars formed on the border with Finland, although this Scandinavian country made it difficult for citizens of Russia to obtain visas from the beginning of September.

On Wednesday evening, Finland’s foreign minister said that the government will prepare a “national decision” to limit or even completely block the transit of “Russian tourists” through the country.

Later that day, retired Colonel-General Andriy Kartapolov, chairman of the Moscow State Duma Defense Committee and former deputy defense minister, “advised” Russian citizens targeted for registration not to travel abroad or even move around the country.

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