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Finland on Friday said it would “significantly limit” the number of Russian “tourists” it will allow to cross its borders as an exodus of Russian men try to escape and avoid conscription.
The Finnish government said its decision was made on concerns that issuing visa bands to Russian men would cause “serious damage to Finland’s international standing”.
Few details have been released on the restrictions Helsinki will now apply, though its decision comes after other neighboring nations took steps earlier in the week to prevent Russian tourists from crossing their borders.
DETAILS OF RUSSIA THAT AVOID CONCRIPTION, WAR IN UKRAINE
Passengers disembark from a bus from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Helsinki Airport in Vantaa, Finland on Saturday, September 24, 2022. Finnish border guards said on Friday that the number of people entering from Russia has increased significantly, with media reporting a 107% increase over last week.
(Jussi Nukari / Lehtikuva via AP)
Finland’s latest decision resulted in the blocking of all land border crossings linking Russia to Europe.
The move comes as thousands of Russian men began fleeing the country following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decree this week calling for a “partial mobilization” to channel more men into the war in Ukraine.
Russian army conscripts donned their uniforms at the military registration and enlistment office in St. Petersburg on April 22, 2014. Tens of thousands of Russian soldiers are massed on Ukraine’s eastern border in what NATO believes to be. a state of readiness for invasion.
(Photo credit should be OLGA MALTSEVA / AFP via Getty Images)
PUTIN’S CALL FOR RUSSIAN CONCRIPTS WILL REQUIRE WEAPONS THAT MOSCOW DOES NOT HAVE, SAYS THE HEAD OF NATO
Putin said he would mobilize “reservists,” which suggests anyone of draft age could be forced to fight in Ukraine.
Russian men between the ages of 18 and 27 are required to serve in Russia’s ranks for one year, although certain conditions such as higher education and health could help some male populations evade the requirement.
Some 300,000 troops are expected to be mobilized to fight in Ukraine, where Russian troops would suffer significant losses, although Moscow said on Friday that technology, business and state reporters will be exempt.
Kiev said that while more than 9,000 of its troops died in the fighting, nearly 55,000 Russian soldiers were killed.
Cars line up to cross the border from Russia to Finland at the vaalimaa border checkpoint at Virolahti in Virolahti, Finland on Friday 23 September 2022.
(Sasu Makinen / Lehtikuva via AP)
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The death toll during the war was not independently verified.
But images of airports filled with fighting-age men and thousands of people causing traffic jams at border crossings suggest that Russian citizens are unwilling to risk fighting statistics in Ukraine.
