By Oyintari Ben
On Wednesday, all flights from Russia to its neighbours were fully booked as Russians attempted to elude President Vladimir Putin’s partial mobilisation order to draft 300,000 reservists into the army.
There are currently no seats available on flights to countries that don’t require a visa until Friday, according to information gathered by Heritage Times HT.
As the Russian President issued the call-up order, which came after the announcement of referendums to facilitate the official annexation of large portions of Ukraine, worries that males of combat age would not be permitted to leave the country started to spread.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, declined to confirm if Russia would restrict its borders to those who are under mobilization when speaking to reporters on Wednesday.
The European Union will continue to back Kiev in light of President Putin’s most recent actions in Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, three of the bloc’s top officials said on Wednesday.
After Putin gathered more soldiers for Ukraine and issued a nuclear threat to the West, the prime ministers of Belgium and the Netherlands as well as the chairman of all 27 national leaders of the EU spoke.
“All of this indicates panic. We’ve heard his rhetoric on nuclear weapons many times before, and it makes us unimpressed “Premier of the Netherlands Mark Rutte stated. “All of this is standard rhetoric. I would suggest keeping your cool.”
Alexander de Croo, a peer from Belgium, advocated a measured response and cautioned against inciting Russia, saying: “We must not add fuel to the fire.”
Charles Michel, President of the European Council, declared that the organization would not be deterred from assisting Ukraine.
“There is only one aggressor in this conflict—Russia—and one aggressor—Ukraine. The EU will continue to back Ukraine, “he said.