The Baltics and Georgia do not want Russians. They are afraid that they will come to “liberate” them – Startitup

Putin’s announcement of a partial mobilization caused huge chaos among Russians. People started looking for ways to leave the country as soon as possible. The tickets were sold out within a few minutes or their price shot up to astronomical numbers. Moscow also banned the sale of tickets to all men between the ages of 18 and 65. So people took to the streets and voiced their disapproval in mass demonstrations, with Russian riot police detaining more than 1,300 people, we reported. On Saturday, several other protests took place in several Russian cities, it ended with more than 700 people arrested. As we have already informed you, there is information that Russia is sending the arrested protesters straight to Ukraine to fight. However, even those who decided to flee before the mobilization do not win. Huge traffic jams were created on the border with neighboring Georgia, while they began to gradually discover that not everyone would welcome them warmly in other countries. On Saturday, a ten-kilometer-long line formed on the Russian-Georgian border. A BBC correspondent reported on this from Tbilisi on Saturday. As reported by The Moscow Times, Georgia has become a refuge for tens of thousands of Russian emigrants since the beginning of the war. However, even here there is a kind of bitterness among the people based on the country’s dark history. “Russians coming to Georgia should never forget that they are coming to a place that is under attack from their country,” said Georgian businesswoman Data Lapauri. The invasion of Ukraine brought back memories of 2008 for her and many of her fellow citizens. It was Georgia that found itself against Russia at that time. Many Georgians have no problems with the coming Russians. However, there were, for example, business owners who required Russian customers to confirm that they did not support President Vladimir Putin. It works similarly when entering some bars. Those who want to enter must fill out an online form and agree to statements such as: “I condemn Russian aggression in Ukraine.” “It is extreme to say that people of a certain nation are not welcome here. But I don’t want to have someone in the bar I own who supports the war in Ukraine and voted for Putin. We don’t want to serve the occupiers,” says Data Lapauriová. In addition, Georgians are afraid that the Russians could use the same argument against their country as against Ukraine. “People come here, start buying apartments, get a residence permit, don’t learn Georgian, and then – who knows – what if Russia comes here to ‘protect’ its people, like it does in Ukraine?” a resident named Nino told The Moscow Times. Problems in the Baltics and FinlandFrightened Russian citizens are not only fleeing towards the south, but also directly to Europe, i.e. to countries such as Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. At the same time, the Baltic states stopped issuing tourist visas to Russians. Nevertheless, as reported by the Lithuanian portal Delfi, the Moscow terminals of international airports were filled by a large number of men. At the same time, the Russian media emphasize that the border guards try to talk with men under the age of 35 about the reasons for their trip. Young Russians trying to escape the country are asked the following questions: “When did you buy your ticket? Do you have a return ticket? Destination of the trip? Did you serve in the military? If not, for what reason? Are you going to return?” A similar situation is also reported at the St. Petersburg airport. Finns receive thousands of Russians every day. During Wednesday, 4,824 Russian citizens crossed their border. Last week on Wednesday, when there was talk of possible mobilization, 3,133 Russians crossed the Finnish border. Traffic also increased on the Russian-Finnish border. The number of people crossing from Russia to Finland has doubled in recent days, Satu Sikanen, head of the Finnish region of South Karelia, told the BBC, TASR writes. defense forces and Finland is joining NATO, so we are safe,” Sikanen said. Russians will be judged individually in Lithuania “The war started in 2014 and this invasion started on February 24. There was still plenty of time for people to decide whose side they were on. I would not understand if we let people into Lithuania for humanitarian reasons just because the war is no longer okay for them. As long as they watched everything on the sofa on TV, it was fine. But when the government and Šojgu (Minister of Defense) invited them to join the army and offered them to participate in this war with their physical bodies, no more,” said Prime Minister of Lithuania Ingrida Šimonytė. She further explained that it is not the duty of Lithuania or other surrounding neighboring states to save the Russians from mobilization. According to her, they had enough time to leave. She emphasized, however, that the situation of every Russian who tries to enter Lithuania will be assessed individually. There are also concerns in Lithuania that there may be specially trained and militarily dangerous persons among the arriving Russians, and it could be a threat to national security. The former prime minister and chairman of the Democratic Union party does not support their admission to his country for that reason. According to him, Russian citizens should fight against Putin in their own country. “Lithuanians really should not let such persons go, because among them there may be a considerable group of people with military experience specially sent and prepared. We can let a fifth column into the country, which could then point weapons at our backs on D-Day,” fears Skvernelis. Lithuania has stated that the mobilization of the Russians will also take place near its borders in Kaliningrad, reports Reutres. Vilnius has therefore raised the level of readiness of its army’s rapid reaction forces “to prevent any provocations from the Russian side”, Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said on Wednesday. Thanks for reading Startitup. If you have an observation or found an error in the article, write to us at [email protected]. Sources: The Moscow Times, Delfi, Delfi, Telegram, Reuters, TASR