Here's how many people left Russia since Vladimir Putin announced partial mobilisation

Following Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement regarding partial mobilisation, approximately 700,000 have left Russia. Around 1 million people have left Russia since the beginning of mobilisation in Russia, Forbes Russia reported citing a source familiar with the matter. On September 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilisation in Russia, a day after Russian-occupied regions in eastern and southern Ukraine announced their plans to hold a referendum on joining Russia.

The second source, in the Presidential Administration of Russia, reported that between 600,000 to 700,000 Russians have left the country, as per the Forbes Russia report. The source emphasised that it is not yet clear about the number of people who left the country for tourism purposes. Immediately after Putin's announcement regarding mobilisation, crowds gathered in queues at the checkpoints of the Russian border. Reportedly, people stood in the queue for four to five days without water and food at the Upper Lars checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border. According to Forbes, the media previously reported that 194,000 Russians left for Georgia, Kazakhstan and Finland in the week after the announcement of mobilisation. 

Around 60,000 Russians entered Finland after Sept 21: Kuznetsov

On September 30, Russian Ambassador to Helsinki Pavel Kuznetsov claimed that around 60,000 Russians entered Finland after September 21. Kuznetsov claimed that 80% of the people who entered Finland travelled to other European nations. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia said that 53,000 Russians arrived in the country in a week, as per the news report. The EU border agency Frontex claimed that approximately 66,000 Russians arrived in the European Union during the same week, which shows an increase of 30% from the people who entered the bloc a week before. According to the Frontex agency, most of the people entered the EU through Finnish and Estonian checkpoints, with the figures increasing significantly after the announcement of mobilisation. At the beginning of September, before the announcement regarding partial mobilisation, the Russia's Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) stated that 419,000 people had left the nation in the first half of 2022 which is twice the number of people who left the nation during the same time in 2021. 

Putin announces partial mobilisation 

On September 21, Putin announced that he has signed a decree on the partial mobilisation in Russia. He said that the only citizens who are part of the reserve will be "subject to conscription" and people who have served in the armed forces have military capabilities and experience. In his address to the nation, the Kremlin leader stated that the decision of partial mobilization was "fully adequate to the threats" faced by Russia and to protect their nation's sovereignty and territorial integrity" and ensuring the "security of our people and people in the liberated territories." Putin claimed that the West aims to "weaken, divide and eventually destroy" Russia. 

Image: AP