Russian man waits in a queue to have his passport checked at the border check point in Virolahti, Finland, on September 25, 2022.
Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva/AFP via Getty Images
Many Russians are attempting to flee the country after Putin announced plans for mobilization.
A local official said that an enlistment office will be put at one of Russia’s borders with Georgia.
Poland warned that Russia could close its borders, and told its citizens to leave the country.
Russia is putting an enlistment office at one of its borders as people continue to flee amid fears that President Vladimir Putin will try to seal up the country.
Last week, Putin announced a partial mobilization of Russian reservists for his war in Ukraine, prompting many citizens to attempt to escape the country by car, train, or plane.
On Tuesday, a local Russian politician said on Telegram that an enlistment office will be set up in the North Ossetia Alania region, which lies on the border between Russia and Georgia.
Andrei Sergeev, the Russian minister of internal affairs for North Ossetia-Alania, said the number of vehicles along the border is “seriously increasing” and that it is creating an “extremely tense” atmosphere.
“In addition, a mobilization point of the military registration and enlistment office will be deployed at the checkpoint in the near future,” Sergeev said.
Russia’s Federal Security Service told the Russian TV channel RBC that some of its agents were heading to the border crossing to ensure that reservists who “want to break through the checkpoint leave the country without any border formalities.”
It is unclear what “border formalities” it is is referring to.
Poland’s foreign ministry warned that Russia could close its borders, telling its citizens to try and leave the country: “”In case of a drastic deterioration of the security situation, the closure of borders or other unforeseen circumstances, evacuation may prove significantly impeded or even impossible.”
Bulgaria also urged its citizens who are in Russia to get out of the country immediately.
And the US Embassy in Russia warned Americans to “depart Russia immediately while limited commercial travel options remain.”
Independent Russian media outlet Meduza reported that Russia may try and close its borders to men of military age on September 28.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied that earlier this week that there were any plans to close the border. He told reporters “I don’t know anything about this. At the moment, no decisions have been taken on this,” Reuters reported.
A Russian man who left Russia said he was told the border had been closed.
Volodya, a 24-year-old Russian who made it to Georgia by car this week, told Al Jazeera that he was stopped at a police checkpoint at the border where officials were trying to intimidate them.
“They tried scaring us, saying they’ll drag us to the enlistment office, telling us the border is closed – typical military humor,” he told Al Jazeera.
“For every question I answered, the major would reply: ‘Great! We need you in the army!'” he added.
Every day more than 10,000 people cross into Georgia, Al Jazeera reported, citing government officials. Georgia allows Russians to stay without a visa for up to one year, while many European countries have now banned Russians from entering.
Satellite images earlier this week showed traffic at Russia’s border with Georgia.