Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of 300,000 soldiers to join the battlefront in Ukraine
Officials of the government of Vladimir Putin, military and security forces walk the streets of the main Russian cities to recruit all the men likely to go to war into the ranks. Anybody goes, those who register in the recruitment offices, those who recruit on the streets, even in prisons in exchange for an amnesty. To do this, they only have to join the front line of battle for six months.
Last Friday, the Russian president announced that they had already managed to incorporate 220,000 and that the remaining 80,000 would do so within two weeks.
Since the Russian president’s announcement, numerous protests have broken out across the country, including attacks on some 70 recruiting office locations. There is even talk that the person in charge of recruiting a Russian zone could have been assassinated. Demonstrations, arrests, blocked roads, exhausted flight seats. Thousands of men arrived alone, without their families, in neighboring countries such as Georgia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and even Turkey. But the collapse of transport prevented the mass flight from continuing.
Putin continues with the partial mobilization and intends to gather the remaining 80,000 soldiers within two weeks.
In these circumstances, some men have preferred to seriously injure themselves and even mutilate themselves before joining the ranks. But many others have continued to search for alternatives . Hiding is increasingly difficult, so they have begun to try to flee through the only border that has not yet been exploited or controlled: the maritime one.
Thus, dozens of ships have set sail from the country in search of a destination where they can stay safe during the duration of the war. The main destination is South Korea , a place nearby but which is turning away most of the Russians who arrive.
Korea Coast Guard records show that a total of five boats carrying 23 people have arrived in the country since the announcement of the “partial mobilization” of military reservists last month.
An Ho-young of the South Korean Democratic Party told that 23 Russian citizens had applied for tourist visas. But she clarified that 21 of them were refused entry because they did not carry the necessary documentation and had a “little objective” clear to enter the country. The two who made it had previously been to South Korea.
The Korean authorities consider that their country is becoming an intermediate scale. For this reason, An indicated that it was “urgent” for the government to put in place measures to help deal with this possible increase in the influx of men fleeing the mobilization. In fact, he warned that this situation could end up in a “diplomatic and human rights problem”. An reminded that Russian citizens can enter the country without a visa but that immigration officials can deny them entry permission.
One of the ships docked in Pohang, where the Navy celebrated the 73rd anniversary of the Armed Forces last year.
In addition to the boat with 23 Russian men, a 17-ton yacht was intercepted by South Korean authorities with 10 Russians on board but did not dock in the country. The events occurred on October 1 in the East Sea, when she requested permission to dock in Busan. But, An recalled, the immigration authorities denied him because there was no justifiable reason for the Russian citizens to visit. The ship docked in Pohang, North Gyeongsang, north of Busan, and set sail again on Oct. 11 with all her passengers on board.
Also on October 1, a yacht applied for permission to dock at Sokcho and unload six passengers, but again the request was rejected. The ship set sail for Vladivostok , in eastern Russia on 5 October, but was forced to stop at Ulleung Island due to bad weather.
Russia continues with its intention to invade Ukraine and for this it needs 300,000 more reservists in the battle front.
Likewise, An explained that another Russian ship is being inspected by the Coast Guard, after being sighted in South Korean territorial waters on October 11. “They went through a regular routine immigration process like everyone else and those who were denied entry to South Korea were because they did not comply with the visa requirements and regulations,” a ministry spokesperson told.
Thus, the spokesman warned that “anyone who wishes to enter the territory of South Korea must provide at least the ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization), KETA (Korean Electronic Travel Authorization) or other forms of visa, but visitors Russians who were denied entry did not provide any form of entry visa.”
