Flights out of Russia shot up in price after Putin made a speech today threatening nuclear war and his defence minister said 300,000 reservists would be called up.
The rare public speech from the Russian president today prompted protests including in Moscow and Novosibirsk, with some chanting ‘No to war!’
Ticket prices for flights from Moscow to Istanbul or Dubai increased within minutes before jumping again, reaching 9,200 euros (£8,037) for a one-way economy class fare.
Meanwhile, tickets for flights from Moscow to Belgrade in Serbia have sold out for the next several days.
Air Serbia is the only European carrier besides Turkish Airlines to maintain flights to Russia despite a European Union flight embargo.
The demand is driven by fears that Russia’s borders could soon close, or that there could be a broader call-up that might send many Russian men of fighting age to the front lines of the war in Ukraine.
Putin’s decree stipulates that the amount of people called to active duty will be determined by the defence ministry.
Defence minister Sergei Shoigu said in a televised interview that 300,000 reservists with relevant combat and service experience would initially be mobilised.
Putin warned in a morning address: ‘Those trying to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know the tables could be turned on them. This is not a bluff.’
Moscow will respond with ‘all the means at our disposal’ if Russia’s territorial integrity is threatened, he added.
Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine almost seven months ago, apparently envisaging a swift victory.
This month, Russian forces have been pushed back in key areas, with today’s developments seen as an escalation in response.
Reports of panic spreading among Russians soon flooded social networks.
Some postings alleged people had already been turned back from Russia’s land border with Georgia and that the website of the state Russian railway company had collapsed because too many people were checking for ways out of the country.
Social networks in Russian also surged with advice on how to avoid the mobilisation or leave the country.
In an apparent attempt to calm the panic, the head of the defence committee of the lower house of Russia’s parliament, Andrei Kartapolov, said authorities would not place additional restrictions on reservists leaving the country, according to Russian media reports.
A group based in Serbia – Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and Serbs Together Against War – tweeted that there were no available flights to Belgrade from Russia until mid-October. Flights to Turkey, Georgia or Armenia had also sold out, according to the Belgrade-based group.
‘All the Russians who wanted to go to war already went,’ the group said. ‘No-one else wants to go there!’
Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, has become a popular destination for Russians during the war. Up to 50,000 Russians have fled to Serbia since Russia invaded Ukraine and many have opened businesses, especially in the IT sector.
Russians do not need visas to enter Serbia, the only European country which has not joined western sanctions against Russia for its aggression in Ukraine.
US president Joe Biden declared at the United Nations today that Russia had ‘shamelessly violated the core tenets’ of the UN with its ‘brutal, needless war’ in Ukraine.
Delivering a forceful condemnation, he said reports of Russian abuses against civilians in Ukraine ‘should make your blood run cold’.
And he said Russian president Vladimir Putin’s new nuclear threats against Europe showed ‘reckless disregard’ for Russia’s responsibilities as a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
He criticised Russia for scheduling ‘sham referenda’ this week in territory it has forcibly seized in Ukraine.
‘A permanent member of the UN Security Council invaded its neighbour, attempted to erase a sovereign state from the map. Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the UN charter,’ he told his UN audience.
Mr Biden called on all nations, whether democracies or autocracies, to speak out against Russia’s invasion and to bolster Ukraine’s effort to defend itself.
‘We will stand in solidarity against Russia’s aggression, period,’ Mr Biden said.
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