Moscow sends security forces to border as Russians try to flee draft

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Security forces deployed to at least one Russian border crossing Monday as young men tried to flee President Vladimir Putin’s mobilization order that would send them to war in Ukraine.

The FSB, Russia’s federal security service, acknowledged it had sent an armored personnel carrier to a border crossing in North Ossetia — between Russia and Georgia — where young men are trying to leave the country before being called up to fight.

The deployment comes as flights out of the country have been sold out for days, despite record-breaking prices.

Russian outlet RBC reported the development, citing an FSB source.

The security service denied it was looking for draft dodgers at the border, and implied instead that the armored vehicle was there for crowd control.

“The armored personnel carrier is moving there, but it is not moving to set up a checkpoint, it is, roughly speaking, a reserve just in case the reservists want to break through the checkpoint and leave the country without completing any border formalities,” the FSB told the outlet. “For this purpose only.”

A man carries as bag as he tries to cross from Russia into Georgia — The run for the border comes amid rumors that military-age men will be banned from crossing later this week.

An image on social media that purports to show the FSB unit on its way to the border crossing.

The FSB said the well-armed troops were there “just in case the reservists want to break through the checkpoint and leave the country without completing any border formalities.”

The North Ossetia crossing, like many in the country, was jam packed full of Russians trying to leave. Russian online search provider Yandex showed a ten mile traffic jam on the road leading up to the border on Monday.

“The [border crossing] is operating as usual, no restrictions on the exit of male citizens of military age have been introduced,” the FSB source added.

However, the militarization of the Georgian border checkpoint comes as other Russian media outlets report Kremlin plans to close the border to military-age men.

A small car weighed down with cargo on the roof — The Kremlin’s order to draft some 300,000 men has sent many to the border to flee the fighting.

Independent Russian outlet Meduza cited a Kremlin insider Sunday when it reported plans to require exit visas this week for international travel.

According to the report, men of military age will be required to obtain permission before leaving the country, part of a plan rumored to go into effect Wednesday — when the results of Russia’s sham referendums in Ukraine are expected.

The supposed plan has the endorsement of some Russian lawmakers, including Sergei Tsekov, a member of Russia’s Federation Council, the country’s upper house of parliament.

“Everyone who is of conscription age should be banned from traveling abroad in the current situation,” he told RIA news agency.

a long line of cars — Russians line up to cross into Georgia in an effort to flee President Vladimir Putin’s military mobilization.

But the Kremlin has pushed back on reports it plans to close the border.

“I don’t know anything about this,” Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s press flack, said in a call with reporters Monday. “At the moment, no decisions have been taken on this.”

Russia’s so-called “partial mobilization” — which ordered the drafting of some 300,000 men for the fighting in Ukraine — has sparked protests, violence, and a run on the border.

Though Putin initially said the order referred only to those already serving in Russia’s military as reservists, reports of students and old men being pressed into service have come from across the country.

“Call-up notices are being served to everyone,” Roman Isif, a Russian who crossed over into Georgia, told an Associated Press reporter Monday. “Nobody knows who will receive one tomorrow and therefore we decided with friends for the time being to rest in a beautiful country,” he said.

With Post wires

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