Russian Neighbors—Now Including Finland—Close Borders To Those Fleeing Putin’s Draft

Topline

The many desperately leaving Russia in response to President Vladimir Putin’s move to start using conscriptions for the war in Ukraine will face dwindling options on where to go, as key neighboring countries—Finland became the latest on Saturday—announce restrictions to keep from being flooded with fleeing Russians.

Cars coming from Russia wait in long lines at the border checkpoint between Russia and Finland near … [+] Vaalimaa on Thursday. (Photo by OLIVIER MORIN/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

After Putin announced a “partial mobilization” of military reserves Wednesday, flights from Russia to neighboring countries not requiring visas quickly sold out.

Many resorted to driving out of the country, with massive lines forming at the Georgian border creating wait times of at least 12 hours reported to enter the country, which does not require a travel visa for Russians.

Finland, which shares around an 800-mile land border with Russia, officially said Saturday it would close its borders to Russian tourists in response to a surge of Russians trying to flee there this week, though it also said it was still “important to ensure that people can enter on humanitarian grounds.”

Nine European Union countries decided earlier this month to stop accepting Russian travel visas, even before Putin’s announcement: the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Slovakia.

The EU as a whole adopted new policies earlier this month to discourage Russians from traveling, including tripling the maximum wait time for a visa approval decision from 15 days to 45 days, though it included exceptions for “dissidents.”

Contra

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said after Putin’s announcement that Germany would welcome Russians looking to escape the war. “Anyone who courageously opposes Putin’s regime and thereby falls into great danger, can file for asylum on grounds of political persecution,” she said, according to Deutsche Welle.

Big Number

2,300. That’s how many cars long the line was into Georgia, according to the New York Times.

Key Background

Putin said in a prerecorded address Wednesday he was activating 300,000 reservists to serve as reinforcements in Ukraine in what he called a “partial mobilization” of reserve forces. He claimed the draft would only apply to those already in the reserves, but many Russians appeared unconvinced. Putin’s move came after a series of humiliating defeats for the Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, where they have ceded dozens of settlements back to the Ukrainians this month, including the city of Izium, a key supply hub.

Tangent

The draft order has sparked the most widespread anti-war protests in Russia since immediately after the start of the invasion in February. More than 2,080 demonstrators have been arrested across the country, according to Russian human rights organization OVD-Info. Some of those arrested are reportedly being drafted into the military, a move Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov defended this week as “not against the law.”