Russia’s “partial mobilization” for its war in Ukraine is off to a chaotic start amid protests, drafting mistakes and an exodus of citizens fleeing Russia, as the Kremlin tightens rules around evading military orders.
Some residents in Russia’s Far East Sakha Republic were conscripted “by mistake” despite not being eligible for mobilization, such as fathers of underage children, according to a local leader.
“All who were mobilized by mistake must be returned back. This work has already begun,” the republic’s head Aisen Nikolaev said in a Telegram post, following a meeting on the presidential decree on partial mobilization.
Meanwhile, videos circulating on Russian social media appear to reveal the tensions, sadness and confusion that the draft – which began after a Wednesday announcement – has sparked, with scenes of families saying emotional goodbyes and others of recruits arguing about being called up.
One video from Friday appears to show police and National Guard members engaged in scuffles with a crowd, as drafted men board a bus in the Omsk region of Russia’s Siberia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday significantly raised the stakes of his assault on Ukraine for ordinary Russians, with the announcement of an immediate “partial mobilization” in a bid to reinforce his faltering invasion following Ukrainian gains.
The mobilization would only affect Russians with previous military experience, according to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who said 300,000 reservists would be called up. However, the decree itself gives much broader terms, sowing fears among Russians of a wider draft in the future.
ctivist groups, such as Free Buryatia Foundation, have said ethnic minorities in Russia are being disproportionately mobilized. CNN has geolocated videos of some of these men being mobilized in Russia’s Far East regions.
The mobilization announcement sparked anti-war demonstrations across the country, which were swiftly cracked down on by police. At least 1,472 protesters have been detained in dozens of cities across Russia as of Saturday, according to the independent protest monitoring group OVD-Info.
It’s also sparked an exodus from Russia as military-age men flee the country rather than risk being conscripted, with video footage showing long lines of traffic at land border crossings into several neighboring countries and surging airfares and sold out flights in recent days.
Ksenia Thorstrom, a Russian municipal deputy from St Petersburg who has left Russia, called the mobilization a “very unpopular decision” in comments to CNN on Saturday.
“I didn’t expect Putin will do this,” Thorstrom said, pointing to protests across the country and adding that “when the first shock goes away, the resistance will grow.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky during his nightly address on Saturday called Russia’s partial mobilization a “mobilization to graves” and urged soldiers to surrender.