[ad_1]
Kazakhstan will ensure the care and safety of Russians fleeing “desperate situations” as they flee Ukraine’s military call-up, the Central Asian country’s president said on Tuesday.
“We have had a lot of people coming from Russia recently,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s news service quoted him as saying.
“Most of them were forced to leave because of desperation. We have to take care of them and keep them safe,” he added.
“This is a political and humanitarian issue,” he said.
Kazakh leaders also condemned Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and called for respect for territorial integrity as Russia held referendums on annexation in four Ukrainian regions.
read more: Russian nuclear threat ‘certainly not a bluff’: ex-president Medvedev warns West
“The territorial integrity of the country must be unshakable. This is a key principle,” he said.
“A big battle is going on near us. We have to remember that and think about our safety first,” Tokayev added.
President Vladimir Putin’s announcement last week to call up thousands of reservists for the Ukraine conflict sparked protests across the country and prompted Russian men to storm the border.
About 98,000 Russians have entered the country since the mobilization was announced on September 21, while more than 64,000 have left, according to the Kazakh interior ministry, RIA Novosti reported.
Meanwhile, the regional interior ministry said that at Russia’s border with the Caucasian nation Georgia, there were long queues to leave the country, with officials acknowledging that the situation at border checkpoints was “extremely tense”.
The ministry added that mobile mobilization offices would be set up at border checkpoints “in the near future”.
[ad_2]
Source link