According to report, Putin’s mobilisation plans come as the Russian army has faced major setbacks in north-eastern Ukraine since the start of the month.
Russians
rushed to leave the country on Thursday to escape their country's biggest
conscription drive since World War Two, as world powers at the United Nations
demanded Moscow be held accountable for alleged atrocities in Ukraine.
Sergei
Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, defended Moscow and responded defiantly,
accusing Kyiv and its Western allies of threatening his country, before walking
out at the end of his speech to the Security Council.
Surveys in
Russia have suggested widespread domestic backing for Moscow's intervention in
Ukraine and significantly higher approval ratings for Putin than before the
invasion on 24 February.
Mass
conscription, intended to enlist 300,000 troops, maybe a gamble for Putin after
promises that it would not happen and heavy Russian losses in Ukraine.
Prices for
air tickets from Moscow soared above €5,000 for one-way flights to the nearest
foreign locations, with most sold out for coming days. Traffic also surged at
border crossings with Finland and Georgia.
“This is
panic demand from people who are afraid they won't be able to leave the country
later - people are buying tickets not caring where they fly to," a tourism
industry source stated.
Anti-war
protests have been taking place in 38 Russian cities, with more planned for the
weekend. They have resulted in more than 1,300 people arrested on Wednesday, as
reported by a monitoring group. Some of the detainees had been ordered to
report to enlistment offices on Thursday, the first full day of conscription,
independent news outlets said.
"Now,
due to mobilisation, for most Russian citizens, Russia's war against Ukraine is
not something on TV or the internet but something that has entered every
Russian home," Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video
address on Thursday night.
Russia
said reports of a mass exodus were exaggerated.
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