NU.nl regularly provides an overview of the situation in Ukraine. This time: EU countries disagree on welcoming Russians fleeing their country to escape draft. Hundreds of people were arrested on Saturday during protests against Russian mobilization in several cities. It is also the second day of referendum in the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization last Wednesday, many Russians have tried to flee abroad to avoid conscription into the Russian army.
This leads to long traffic jams on the border between Russia and neighboring countries, full flights departing from Russia, and reverse flight ticket prices. The countries of the European Union do not seem to agree on how to deal with this problem. Do they want to grant asylum to the fleeing Russians or not?
Russia’s neighboring countries close their borders
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, all three countries directly bordering Russia, have already indicated on Wednesday not to offer asylum to Russians fleeing their country. “Refusal to fulfill one’s civic duty in Russia or the desire to do so is not a sufficient reason for obtaining asylum in another country,” Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said. Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevic says he will reject the Russians “for security reasons”.
Finland, which has kept its borders open to Russians in recent days, announced on Friday that it will limit entry options. For example, Russians with a tourist visa can no longer enter the country. In addition to Finland and the Baltic states, Poland is also driving Russian citizens away from the border.
Russians on the run are welcome in the Netherlands. The Dutch Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Eric van der Burg says he “certainly” does not want to send back the Russians who come to the Netherlands, “because then we know they will be persecuted there”. As early as June, Van der Burg decided that Russians who do not want to fight can stay in the Netherlands at least until the end of 2022.
Runaway Russians are also welcome in Germany. On Thursday, several German ministers said all Russians fleeing the mobilization could declare themselves refugees.
More than seven hundred protesters arrested during the anti-mobilization protests
On Saturday, Russian security forces arrested at least 730 people who protested against the war in Ukraine and Putin’s decision to mobilize part of the population for the struggle. This was reported by the Russian civil rights organization OVD-Info. The organization said the demonstrations took place in at least 32 cities.
OVD-Info reported on the basis of eyewitnesses that the police hit the demonstrators, inter alia, with clubs. The British channel News from heaven reported that a bus full of people was stopped in St. Petersburg.
Security forces also arrested activists in Moscow and in Siberian cities, such as Novosibirsk and Tomsk.
Protesters who protested against the mobilization were arrested in several cities.
Protesters who protested against the mobilization were arrested in several cities. Photo: EPA
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Second day of fake referendums in the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia
Despite harsh international criticism, the occupied parts of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia will vote for the second consecutive day in a referendum on joining Russia on Saturday. A video of gunmen appears to be forcing people to vote on social media.
Russian state media spread images that give the impression that he is busier in polling stations on Saturday than Friday. According to Ukraine, election commission employees along with armed Russian soldiers visit people’s homes to collect ballot papers.
Voting lasts until Tuesday. The referendum will allow Russia to formally annex about 15 percent of Ukrainian territory. In areas where it is possible to vote, many residents have fled and fighting is still going on.
The annexation of Ukrainian territories to Russia could further intensify the war. “If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will use all available means to protect our people,” Putin warned last week. His ally and vice president of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, has threatened to use “all weapons, including strategic nuclear weapons” to defend the annexed territory.
The Russian general who destroyed Mariupol becomes Deputy Minister of Defense
Putin has appointed High General Mikhail Mizintsev as Deputy Defense Minister to his cabinet. Mizintsev played a key role in the siege of the southern port city of Mariupol, which fell in Russia in May. He will be responsible for the logistical operations of the Russian army.
Mizintsev is the replacement for Dmitry Bulgakov. He had been in that post for years, but was fired seven months after the war started. No official reason has been given for Bulgakov’s departure, but he is believed to have been criticized by Putin’s advisers. They cannot bear the defeats they suffered during the war. Bulgakov would get another position, but it’s unclear which one he is.
Mizintsev is known as “Mariupol’s killer”. In the Russian military operation against Mariupol, thousands of civilians were killed and much of the city was destroyed.
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