The tension in Russia will reach its peak this morning when, according to reports, Moscow is expected to announce the closing of the borders.
The meaning: tens and perhaps hundreds of thousands of men, who are trying to leave the country to evade the general conscription, will be stuck there - something that is expected to heat up the spirits even more.
A source close to the Kremlin told the "Meduza" website during the holiday that the borders will be closed after the completion of the "referendums" in the territories occupied by Russia in Ukraine.
The polls ended yesterday, and according to him, men will be required to obtain an "exit visa".
These statements increased the pressure among those who have already reached the borders with Finland, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Georgia.
At the borders there are long queues of thousands of cars, waiting for whole days to escape.
"People in line don't talk to each other," Alexey (43) from Moscow, who waited two days at the Russia-Kazakhstan border, told Israel Hayom.
"Everyone is depressed and withdrawn into themselves, with the exception of those who checkout here and offer to bypass the queue for a fee. Everyone has the same thoughts: Will they be allowed to pass? When do they close? Will we have enough time to pass? How much longer can we stand? Why don't we go?".
A queue of people waiting to cross from Russia to Finland, photo: Reuters
Finally, Alexey decided to leave: "I progressed the last 100 meters for 24 hours. There were two more kilometers to the border and I thought it would take me at least two more days.
I was afraid that by the 28th of the month I wouldn't be able to cross, so I decided to turn around on my tracks - which was a task in itself because I was blocked from all directions.
I bought a plane ticket, I hope I didn't make a mistake."
One meter a day
In the passage "Varhani Lars" to Georgia the situation is even worse.
On the mountain road leading to it, there is a 25-kilometer queue that advances at a rate of one meter (!) a day, food and drinks are running out, people are abandoning their cars and walking, which causes a huge crowding at the border crossing itself. The rescue services have no easy access to the place, and a humanitarian disaster of real in the coming days is inevitable.
Recruitment of reservists in Ikotia (Republic of Sakha), photo: E.P
And if that wasn't enough, Russia decided to open a recruitment office there and brought several military vehicles to it "to prevent a border breach", when it was closed.
Since Putin announced a "partial mobilization", at least 300,000 people have left Russia.
"Five days ago, 5,000-6,000 people entered per day," said the Georgian Minister of the Interior, Vahtang Gumlauri, "now it is ten thousand per day. Russian citizens have always entered Georgia, why should their exit be restricted now?"
Since Putin announced a "partial mobilization", at least 300,000 people have left Russia, photo: AP
Russia's rich, by the way, are trying to escape the conscription by means of executive planes, the ticket price of which has already risen to 1.5 million rubles (about $26,000).
Yevgeny Bykov, director of one of the private jet companies, told The Guardian: "The situation is crazy, the number of requests has increased from 50 to 5,000 a day."
collisions and confrontations
At the same time, dozens of conscription opponents have been detained in recent days in violent clashes with the police in the Republic of Dagestan in the North Caucasus.
The recruitment failures are also becoming clear, with evidence of recruits being sent to the front without any preparation.
One of them, Sergei (25) from Moscow who was recruited into the armor, said: "We were told officially that there would be no preparation - neither tactical nor theoretical, and that our unit would be sent to the front in Kherson on the 29th of the month. Think for yourself and decide for yourself what to do with it."
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