Russia: Hundreds of thousands fleeing for fear of general mobilization

Created: 05/10/2022 04:52

By: Andreas Apetz

Hundreds of thousands of residents had already fled Russia in mid-March.

(Iconic photo) © Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin Pool

Russia could reach a new level of escalation on May 9th.

Hundreds of thousands have already fled the country.

Moscow – May 9th is the main national holiday in Russia.

Victory Day celebrates the triumph over Nazi Germany in 1945 and the end of the Great Patriotic War.

Experts assume that Russian President Vladimir Putin actually wanted to announce victory over Ukraine on this day.

But an end to the Ukraine war is not yet in sight.

Situation in Russia: Will Putin announce general mobilization on May 9th?

The long war is also draining the strength of the military superpower Russia.

A video is supposed to show the catastrophic conditions in Russian camps.

After May 9th, the stress level could reach a new high.

The whole world is anxiously awaiting Putin's holiday speech and the announcement of the next steps Moscow will take to end the Ukraine conflict victoriously.

In Ukraine, Germany, Europe and the USA, there is growing concern about a general Russian mobilization.

A mass mobilization would allow Moscow to draft hundreds of thousands of reservists and send them to Ukraine.

The justification for this step would be Putin's official declaration of war on Ukraine.

As reported by Bayerischer Rundfunk, the Russian Presidential Office spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected such assumptions as "nonsense".

Should Putin nevertheless take this military step, Russia would suddenly have around 900,000 reservists at its disposal.

In an interview with the Augsburger Allgemeine, the CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter had warned against general mobilization and spoke of a "tremendous escalation" of the war.

Partial mobilization, which would only affect individual regions of the country, would also be an option.

Mood in Russia: Hundreds of thousands are leaving the country – fear of mobilization?

As the war progressed, dissatisfaction among the Russian population grew.

According to the non-profit emigration organization OK Russian, around 300,000 Russians fled their homeland by mid-March.

How much the number of emigrants has increased since then is unknown.

Popular refugee countries are Finland, the Baltic States, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, but also the USA.

With regard to the potential general mobilization, the number of refugees could increase.

About 900,000 people would be affected, mostly young men.

The mobilization also affects people who currently have other jobs and have only done basic military service.

War in Ukraine: Martial law could change mood in Russia

Should the declaration of war on Ukraine and its President Volodymyr Zelenskyj be announced on May 9th, the mood in Russia could change.

The propaganda façade of the "special operation" being carried out exclusively on Ukrainian territory would begin to crumble.

It should then be clear to everyone in Russia that this is obviously no longer just a special operation, but really a war of aggression.

The Russian people would also feel the direct consequences of the introduction of martial law.

This would involve, among other things, internments, military censorship, restrictions on entry and exit and restrictions on economic production.

Martial law would make life in Russia extremely difficult and could lead to protests at home.

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