The number of Russians entering the European Union has jumped after a partial mobilization ordered by Moscow, and illegal crossings are likely to increase if Russia decides to close the border to potential recruits, EU border agency Frontex said on Tuesday.
“In the last week, nearly 66,000 Russian citizens entered the EU, up 30% from the previous week. Most of them arrived in Finland and Estonia,” Frontex said in a statement.
In the last four days alone, 30,000 Russian citizens arrived in Finland, according to the statement.
“Frontex estimates that illegal border crossings are likely to increase if the Russian Federation decides to close the border to potential recruits,” the agency said.
Summons of 300,000 Russian citizens to fight in the war
“To protect our homeland, its sovereignty and territorial integrity, to guarantee the security of our people and the people in the liberated territories, I consider it necessary to support the proposal of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff to carry out a partial mobilization in the Russian Federation”, Putin said in a statement.
According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the decree provides for the summoning of 300,000 citizens. In an interview with Russian state television, Shoigu stated that students and those who served as recruits and most of the millions of reservists would not be drafted.
“I repeat, we are only talking about partial mobilization. That is, only those citizens who are in the reserve and, above all, those who have served in the Armed Forces, have certain military specialties and relevant experience, will be subject to recruitment,” explained the Russian president.
Russia’s “partial mobilization” to continue the war in Ukraine got off to a chaotic start amid protests, mistakes and an exodus of citizens fleeing Russia, as the Kremlin tightens rules on evading military orders.
Some residents of the Sakha Republic, located in Russia’s Far East, were recruited “by mistake”, despite not being eligible for mobilization, as parents of underage children, according to a local leader.
“All those who were mobilized by mistake must be returned. This work has already begun,” said the head of the republic, Aisen Nikolaev, in a post on Telegram, after a meeting on the presidential decree of partial mobilization announced this week.
(With information from CNN)
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
