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Fighting in Ukraine on Friday after a partial military mobilization from the Kremlin, military-age men fled Russia in droves, crowding planes and causing traffic jams at border crossings.
According to data from Yandex Maps, a Russian online mapping service, there was a six-mile queue on the road to Georgia’s southern border.
On the border with Kazakhstan, the line of cars was so long that some people abandoned their vehicles and continued on foot — as some Ukrainians did after Russia invaded their country on February 24.
At the same time, dozens of flights from Russia — where tickets are sold at sky-high prices — transport men to international destinations where Russians do not require visas, including Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Serbia.
Among those arriving in Turkey was a 41-year-old who landed in Istanbul with a suitcase and backpack and planned to start a new life in Israel.
“I am against this war, I will not be involved in it. I will not be a murderer. I will not kill,” said the man, who only referred to himself as Yevgeny to avoid fighting against his family who remained in Russia potential retaliation.
He called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal”.
Yevgeny decided to flee after Putin announced a partial call-up to the army on Wednesday.
German government officials have expressed a desire to help Russian men deserters, and they have called for a European solution.
A spokesman for German Interior Minister Nancy Fasser said: “Those who bravely resisted Putin’s regime and thus put themselves at great risk can apply for asylum in Germany on the grounds of political persecution.”
Spokesman Maximilian Kall said deserters and those who refused to enlist would be granted refugee status in Germany if they were at risk of severe repression, although each case was reviewed individually.
But they first have to reach Germany, which has no land border with Russia, and as with other EU countries, it becomes more difficult for Russians to travel to Germany.
Following the attack on Ukraine, the European Union banned direct flights between its 27 member states and Russia, and recently agreed to restrict the issuance of Schengen visas, which allow free movement across much of Europe.
Four of the five EU countries that border Russia — Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland — also recently decided to turn away Russian tourists.
Some European officials see the fleeing Russians as a potential security risk.
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Linkevich said many of them “have no problem with the killing of the Ukrainians. They did not protest at the time. It is not correct to regard them as conscientious objectors”.
One EU country still accepting Russians with Schengen visas is Finland, which shares an 830-mile border with Russia.
The Finnish border guard said on Friday that the number of arrivals from Russia had increased, according to media reports, a 107 percent increase compared to last week.
At Vaalimaa, one of the border’s busiest crossings, queues for cars stretched a third of a mile, the Finnish border guard said.
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