As More Russians Flee, Southern Region Girds for Ukrainian Fire

Russian men are attempting to flee the country amid unconfirmed reports that the borders will close Wednesday, while residents of one Russian oblast, or region, situated near Ukraine were warned to brace for attacks emanating from the victim of the Russian invasion. It is unclear how well the Kremlin will be able to manage these domestic crises that stem from President Putin’s faltering attempts to conquer portions of Ukraine, where bogus referendums on joining Russia are set to conclude today. For the time being, scenes of despair are abundant. The initial “partial” mobilization that Mr. Putin announced on September 21 was to see upward of 300,000 men of military age called up to serve in Ukraine. An independent Russian news source, Novaya Gazeta, reported that at least 260,000 men have already fled the country, in an exodus that is only gathering steam. The banned Russian news site Meduza said the country’s borders may be sealed as soon as Wednesday in an effort to stanch the flow. The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on Monday that “no decisions have been taken on this,” but he prefaced that with “at the moment.”Flights out of Russia are either unavailable or selling for astronomical prices. The Moscow Times reported that “flights from Moscow to the Azerbaijani capital Baku were advertised for about $11,314” apiece — and were still hard to come by. There are long lines of cars at border crossings with Finland, Georgia, and Armenia, and Russians are fleeing to neighboring Kazakhstan, too.That country’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has described it as “a hopeless situation,” even though he has pledged to help Russian evacuees. Kazakhstan’s ministry of internal affairs reports that at least 40,000 Russians have come in recent days; that figure is probably higher. As scenes of desperation at Russia’s many borders dominated press reports, one area that has received scant attention is the border that Russia shares with Ukraine — and it is becoming increasingly hazardous. In recent months there have been sporadic Ukrainian attacks on Russian logistical assets in the Belgorod oblast, which shares a border with Kharkiv. That is the city and region recently liberated from Russian occupation forces after a Ukrainian counter-offensive. Now, Russia’s Voronezh oblast, which is northeast of Belgorod and due north of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, is also in the line of fire. The Russian press has reported that residents of Voronezh’s eponymous capital, which has a population of more than a million, have been warned to clear out their basements for possible use as bomb shelters. According to a municipal decree, residents must install proper lighting and remove all garbage “to prepare basements in high-rise buildings to shelter the population.” The state housing inspectorate and prosecutor’s office will be notified of noncompliance. While no specific threat was mentioned in the decree, it does not strain credulity to wager that following Ukrainian incursions across the border into Belgorod, the region adjacent to it would be the next one that Kyiv might consider fair game. In his speech calling for partial mobilization, Mr. Putin even cited the cross-border attacks as one of the reasons for its justification. The Telegraph reported that Russia was “concentrating men and equipment near its border opposite Kharkiv for a possible renewed attack on Ukraine’s second city.” Although that could not be independently confirmed, it underscores that the war is still very much still in progress. Kyiv is likely aware of the Kremlin’s military maneuvers. Moscow, for its part, knows by now that Ukraine knows how to retaliate as well.The harrowing scenes of young Russian men trying to escape their own country, and some even setting recruitment centers ablaze, have brought the harsh realities of Mr. Putin’s recklessness closer to home for ordinary Russians. Indeed, thousands of them have now found themselves essentially homeless in foreign lands. But the prospect of further escalation along the front lines, as well as behind them, is also coming to the fore.

As More Russians Flee, Southern Region Girds for Ukrainian Fire

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