after partial mobilization, Russians try to leave for Georgia

In Russia, on the border with Georgia, a line of thousands of vehicles is waiting, Thursday, September 29. You have to wait several days and sleep in your car to hope to get to the other side. Some abandon their vehicle to continue on foot. “When we were in the car, smugglers took 2,600 euros from us, it was useless”, says a man. Thousands of young men seek to escape the mobilization decreed by Vladimir Putin.

“To stay here is to continue to live in fear”, assures a man. However, Russians, registered on the mobilization lists, are forced to operate a U-turn, after having signed a paper stating that they cannot leave Russian territory. “Russia says it does not want to close its borders (…) but several men have told us that they do not want to take any risks and prefer to leave Russia, while there is still time”says journalist Luc Lacroix, special envoy to the Russian-Georgian border.