(Tbilisi) Georgia and Kazakhstan, two neighboring countries of Russia, confirmed on Tuesday a sharp increase in arrivals of Russians since the mobilization decreed on September 21 by President Vladimir Putin.
Posted at 6:33 a.m.
Arrivals of Russians to Georgia nearly doubled to nearly 10,000 a day after the announcement, the Caucasian country’s interior ministry said.
“The number has increased to some 10,000 a day. For example, they were 11,200 on Sunday and less than 10,000 on Monday”, against “5,000 to 6,000” just before the announcement of the mobilization in Russia on September 21, the ministry said.
On the border with Georgia, the authorities of the Russian region of North Ossetia admitted a “tense situation” at the Verkhni Lars checkpoint.
The local Ministry of the Interior has announced the forthcoming installation of a “military mobilization commission” in the border area in order to recruit reservists who are trying to leave.
For its part, the Interior Ministry of Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, indicated that 98,000 Russian citizens had arrived in the country since September 21.
However, he did not provide any comparison with the previous week.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev assured him on Tuesday that his country, a traditional ally of Moscow, but which has distanced itself since the offensive in Ukraine, would protect the Russians who flee to Kazakhstan to escape mobilization.
“In recent days, many people come to us from Russia. Most are forced to leave because of a no-win situation,” Tokayev said.
“We have to take care of them, ensure their safety,” he added.
The Kazakh president also once again condemned the conflict in Ukraine, and called for respect for territorial integrity at a time when Russia is organizing “referendums” denounced as “simulacra” by Kyiv in four Ukrainian regions to formalize their annexation.
“The territorial integrity of a State must be inalienable, it is a key principle”, he recalled.
“In our immediate vicinity, a major war is underway. We must remember this, thinking first and foremost about our safety,” Tokayev added.
Allied to Russia and in particular a member of an economic and customs union, Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, nevertheless also cultivates good relations with the West and China.
Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine has awakened fears among some Kazakhs of also becoming the target of Russian ambitions, particularly because of its long border with Russia and its large ethnic Russian minority.
Russia invaded Ukraine claiming that Russian speakers living in the east of the country were victims of “genocide”, an unfounded accusation.