In Putin’s Russia, fortunes can change rapidly. A week on from the partial mobilisation of the army, Russians are gripped by the fear that the closure of the country’s borders is next. Those who are not willing to risk death in Ukraine are looking for a way out.
In the six days since 21 September, when Putin announced his plan in a pre-recorded television address, protests have sprung up in at least 43 towns across the country; the human rights organisation OVD News has said that more than 2,300 people have been arrested for taking part.
According to the official terms of the Kremlin’s partial mobilisation, those with military experience aged between 18 and 35 are being called up first (those holding higher military ranks can be summoned up to the age of 65). The Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu said that the decree would affect no more than 300,000 individuals.
The more the Kremlin denies the possibility of something happening, the more likely it is to happen
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it appears the Russian public doesn’t want to take the Kremlin’s word for it.
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