Volodymyr Zelensky Urges Russians To Protest Partial Mobilization; Citizens Flock Border in Bid To Escape

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Russians on Thursday to protest against the partial mobilization that their president, Vladimir Putin, ordered this week.

Zelensky said that thousands of Russian soldiers have already been killed in the conflict, which has been going on for almost seven months, in his daily video address to Ukraine. According to a Pentagon estimate from August, 70,000 to 80,000 Russians have died or have been injured as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.

Putin's Partial Mobilization Order

As the resistance to the invasion rises, anti-war organizations conducted more protests, as per CNN. A day after Putin authorized a partial mobilization, social media footage from Russia's land borders with several nations reveals lengthy traffic jams attempting to escape the nation.

At the border crossings into Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Mongolia, lengthy lines were formed. One video captured the Zemo Larsi/Verkhny Lars checkpoint at the Georgian-Russian border late on Wednesday as dozens of vehicles lined up in front of it.

This queue seems to have become longer on Thursday. A man who said that the line was five to six kilometers long in one video showed a lengthy line that extended into the mountains beyond the crossing. Another image shared on Thursday showed lengthy lineups at the Mongolian border crossing at Khaykhta.

The Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti quoted Maulen Ashimbaev, a top Kazakh official, as saying that Kazakhstan could not impose any restrictions on Russian citizens entering the nation. However, Ashimbaev, the speaker of the upper house of the Kazakh parliament, stated that applicants must have a collection of legal documents to acquire a residency permit.

Flights from Russia to nations where visas are not required are still quite popular and regularly sold out. There were no seats left on Moscow-Istanbul one-way economy flights until Sunday, according to a search on the Aviasales website, with the lowest fare being over $2,900.

Upon the partial mobilization announcement, there were reportedly claims of a mass departure. The Kremlin denied claims that Russians who were eligible for mobilization were making a mad dash for the door, according to CNN. Putin predicted that the conflict to overthrow the Ukrainian government and install a puppet administration would last only a few days.

Russia-Ukraine War

However, the conflict has been going on for nearly seven months. Instead, Putin has been forced to fight a tenacious foe who is supported by Western weapons and resources in a bloody attrition war. Even North Korea has stated that it will not provide Russia with armaments since doing so will tarnish its reputation.

Meanwhile, Russian missile strikes in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia reportedly caused five injuries and one fatality, according to Ukrainian authorities. Donetsk officials under separatist control reported that at least six individuals had been killed by Ukrainian bombardment.

Even though the fighting went on, the two sides were able to come to terms with a significant prisoner transfer. The high-profile prisoner swap saw the announcement of an exchange of 215 Ukrainian and foreign combatants, 200 of them for a single person, an associate of President Putin, hours before Thursday's attacks, Daily Mail reported.

Zelensky also declared that the Russian people are complicit in Putin's cruel invasion, which is alleged to have resulted in torture and the killing of civilians. He added that conscripts have the option to live, die, or become cripple if they cannot prevent being pushed into combat.

A Ukrainian official called for the establishment of a special war tribunal and described alleged war crimes committed by Russia in one pre-recorded video. Additionally, Zelensky proposed a single peace plan that would strengthen military ties with Russia and penalize it internationally.

Furthermore, he did it on the same day that Putin called up 300,000 military reservists, setting off huge mass protests in Ukraine, as per BBC.