Why Britain should welcome Russians fleeing Putin’s war

As if Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had not already presented quite enough dilemmas for other countries, suddenly there is another one. How sympathetic a reception should Russian men trying to avoid call-up in their home country be granted abroad, and specifically in the UK?

This quandary has arisen following Vladimir Putin’s announcement of what he called a ‘partial mobilisation’ of reservists to serve in Ukraine. The predictable response to the announcement, made at 9 o’clock Moscow time on Wednesday, was a surge of younger Russians trying to leave the country by any means and to any country where they had a chance of being let in.

Direct flights to a host of popular destinations for Russians – including Turkey, the Gulf States and Kazakhstan – were reported to have been booked out within hours, with ticket prices rising out of many people’s budget. There was also a rush to leave the country over land borders: Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan being countries of choice.