Russia calls news about queues to flee the country “exaggerated”

Moscow Airport. GettyRussia has described as “very exaggerated” the information about queues to leave the country after the entry into force of the partial mobilization ordered by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. “Reports that there is a certain hubbub at airports are highly exaggerated,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said at his daily press conference, stressing that “there is a lot of false information on this matter.” It is true, according to the Reuters agency, that flights from Russia were sold out a few hours after President Vladimir Putin ordered the immediate mobilization of 300,000 reservists. Google Trends data showed an increase in searches for Aviasales, Russia’s most popular website for buying flights. Flights from Moscow to the capitals of Georgia, Turkey and Armenia, all destinations that allow Russian entry without a visa, sold out within minutes of the announcement. There are also queues to leave the country at some border points with Georgia, but not in Finland as was initially claimed. “There are no signs that a large number of young people are in the border areas with Finland,” said Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto. Finland and Russia share some 1,340 kilometers of border, the longest among all the countries of the European Union. Until now, Russian tourists have been able to enter the Schengen area by land through the Finnish border, unlike the Baltic countries and Poland, which imposed stricter restrictions to prevent such entries.