Fight or Flight? Putin Mobilization Call Triggers Run on Tickets Out of Russia

Minutes after Vladimir Putin’s televised call Wednesday morning for a “partial mobilization” of Russia’s 25 million reservists to join Russia’s flagging fight in Ukraine, flights from Russian cities to destinations abroad sold out. The Moscow Times reported that flights “from Moscow to the capitals of Georgia, Turkey and Armenia — which do not require visas for Russians — for Sept. 21 were unavailable within minutes of Putin’s announcement.” A search by the Sun found that flights from various Russian airports to Istanbul and Yerevan were sold out every day this week, with limited availability and unusually high prices for those routes from the weekend. A one-way ticket on Utair to Yerevan from Khanty-Mansiysk airport, in western Siberia, on September 25 cost $758, and a flight on Aeroflot to Istanbul from Moscow on September 26 — the earliest date available — was a steep $1,070.Flight searches by other media outlets turned up other examples of sudden sticker shock. The Moscow Times reported that prices for one-way flights to some destinations, while they were still available, “rose at least eightfold, with tickets from Moscow to Yerevan on Thursday being sold for about $2,621 and from Moscow to Dubai for $2,784.”According to the Telegraph, the Russian news outlet RBC reported that there were no longer seats available on flights to destinations that do not require a visa until Friday. Politico reported that Russian carriers Aeroflot and S7 were “not imposing any restrictions on the sale of their tickets following the announcement,” though that could change.RBC separately reported that Russian travel agencies are receiving requests to cancel tours on a “massive” scale. The reason is that if a draft notice comes to a Russian man while he is abroad, “he will not be able to travel even outside his region,” according to the report. The Moscow Times was among the earliest to report on the scramble for increasingly scarce tickets out of Russia. Also, according to the newspaper, unconfirmed reports of border closures are “swirling” amid speculation that Russian Railways and flagship airline Aeroflot may soon face orders to ban men aged 18 to 65 from buying tickets. Underscoring the growing anxiety, the paper said that a Telegram channel that collects Russian travelers’ reports from border crossings said it has received isolated accounts of guards turning away military-age men.According to the newspaper, “several Russians of conscription age [already] in Istanbul declined to speak to The Moscow Times for fear of attracting the attention of the Russian authorities.”Travel options for ordinary Russians have been shrinking steadily. This week the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as Poland, started blocking entry to all Russian citizens regardless of whether they hold EU visas. The EU has not implemented the blanket ban on Russian arrivals sought by Ukraine, but member countries have different visa policies. Finland has slashed the number of visas it grants to Russian citizens. Flights to most European cities from Russia have either been canceled or sharply curtailed since the invasion of Ukraine.On the financial front, the ruble-denominated Moscow Exchange fell by as much as 10 percent following Mr. Putin’s remarks, while stocks of energy giants Rosneft and Gazprom at one point dropped by 12 percent, the Moscow Times also reported, with the ruble falling close to 63 versus the dollar — its weakest in more than two months.The mobilization, even if partial, still marks an ominous first for Russia since World War II and is sure to further fuel tensions with the Western backers of Ukraine, who derided the move as an act of weakness. The total number of reservists to be called up could be as high as 300,000, officials said.The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, who was asked what had changed since he and others previously said no mobilization was planned, argued that Russia is effectively fighting against a combined NATO force because the alliance’s members have been supplying weapons to Kyiv.Only those with relevant combat and service experience will be mobilized, the Russian defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said. He added that while there are about 25 million people who fit this criteria, only about 1 percent of them will be mobilized. The Kremlin-backed news agency RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday morning that Mr. Shoigu had begun “implementing the presidential decree on partial mobilization.”He added that the mobilized citizens will have the status of contract soldiers. Another clause in the decree prevents most professional soldiers from terminating their contracts and leaving service until the partial mobilization is no longer in place.Mr. Putin’s announcement came against the backdrop of the UN General Assembly at New York, where Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 has been the target of broad international criticism that has placed intense diplomatic pressure on Moscow.

Fight or Flight? Putin Mobilization Call Triggers Run on Tickets Out of Russia

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