Russians have swarmed across the border into neighboring states since President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization on Sept. 21 for the war in Ukraine.
Here’s a guide to how many people have crossed and how countries are reacting:
HOW MANY HAVE FLED RUSSIA SINCE THE MOBILIZATION WAS ANNOUNCED?
Getting precise totals is difficult, but the number of Russians who have left could number in the hundreds of thousands, according to media reports and figures released by neighboring states. Figures aren’t usually broken out, so they may include men facing the draft, family members and other travelers.
The independent Novaya Gazeta Europe reported on September 26 that 261,000 men had left since the mobilization was declared, citing a Kremlin source. The report could be independently verified.
Russia has denied some reports in the Russian media that 700,000 Russians have fled the country since the announcement.
On October 4, Forbes Russia reported that the number of people who have left the country since Putin ordered the draft could reach 700,000, citing a Kremlin source.
“I don’t have exact figures, but of course they are far from what is stated there,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Airline ticketing data has pointed to a surge of people leaving. The number of one-way tickets sold from Russia rose 27% from September 21 to 27 compared to the previous week, according to Spain-based ForwardKeys, which analyzes reservation bookings.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that Russia planned to recruit 300,000 men, saying on October 4 that more than 200,000 people had been recruited so far.
WHERE DO MOST GO?
Some head to Kazakhstan, which shares the world’s second-longest land border with Russia. Russians can enter without a passport or visa.
The Kazakh interior minister said on October 3 that more than 200,000 Russians had entered since September 21, while some 147,000 left in the same period, although their final destination was unclear.
The Georgian Interior Ministry, where Russians can also enter without a visa, said 68,887 Russians had arrived from September 21-29, while 45,624 had left.
For both countries, it was unclear how many of the Russians who left had traveled to third countries.
ForwardKeys air travel booking data reported a triple-digit increase for the week ending September 27 in one-way tickets from Russia to Tbilisi, Almaty, Istanbul, Tel Aviv and Dubai.
Turkey, a popular tourist destination for Russians and others, has reported an increase in Russian arrivals and flights since the mobilization was announced. One man told Reuters he flew to Istanbul airport the next day in part to avoid conscription.
Some 3 million arrived in Turkey from Russia this year through the end of August, 22% more than last year, official data showed.
Many Russians have also headed to Europe.
HOW MANY COME TO THE EU OR OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES?
The European Union saw a surge in arrivals after Putin’s announcement. Some 66,000 Russian citizens entered the bloc between September 19 and 25, a 30% increase from the previous week, data from the bloc’s border agency Frontex showed.
The number fell to 53,000 in the week beginning September 26, Frontex said, citing a stricter EU visa policy and Russian measures to prevent men of military age from leaving.
Most of the Russians who entered the EU already had residence permits or visas, while others had dual citizenship, Frontex said.
Finland, which has a 1,300 km (800 mile) border with Russia, has been the main point of arrival in the EU. Finnish data showed that the number of Russian tourists arriving through four southern border crossings doubled in the days after September 21.
From September 21 to October 5, 59,975 Russians arrived in Finland through the four checkpoints, with many leaving for other European countries, while 36,116 Russians returned home, data from the guard authority showed. Finnish border on October 5.
HOW ARE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES REACTING?
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland began turning away Russians with tourist visas issued by any of the EU’s Schengen states on September 19. Finland did the same on September 30.
Norway’s arctic border with Russia is the last direct route to Europe open to holders of Russian Schengen tourist visas. Norway’s justice minister said on September 30 that the government could ban further arrivals from Russia at short notice if necessary.
Since the mobilization began, German embassies in Armenia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Belarus have seen an increase in inquiries from Russian citizens seeking to travel to Germany and the EU.
An Interior Ministry spokesman told Reuters that the German constitution enshrines the right to political asylum, but said: “Because of this case-by-case examination and the severely limited possibilities of traveling from Russia to Germany, we assume that there are only a few cases. “. “
A French minister said France would also be selective about who would be allowed to stay in the country, taking into account the situation of the person and the security risk.
“We will make sure that dissident journalists, people fighting the regime, artists and students can still come here,” Assistant Minister for European Affairs Laurence Boone said on October 5.
(Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York, Caleb Davis in Gdansk, Alexander Ratz in Berlin, Joanna Plucinska, Olzhas Auyezov, Jake Cordell, Terje Solsvik, Essi Lehto, Geert De Clercq, Jonathan Spicer; Written by Rachel More and Madeline Chambers; Editing by Edmund Blair and Alex Richardson)