Russians who are despairing over the war, afraid of sanctions and worried about the continuous attempt to stifle critical voices, have fled Russia in recent days.
It reports several foreign media, among others Al Jazeera and The Guardian.
As European airspace is almost completely closed to flights to and from Russia, people on the run have few options.
Those traveling from the eastern parts of Russia cross the border into Finland or to the Baltic countries Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
For Russians who do not have European passports, the trip goes to Georgia, Armenia or Turkey.
– TRAVEL: Many Russians travel by this train to get from St. Petersburg to Helsinki in Finland. Photo: Emmi Korhonen / Lehtikuva / AFP
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Completely sold out
According to Danish TV 2 All the tickets on the Allegro train, which runs from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, Finland, have been completely sold out in recent days.
The reasons why people flee are many, but many say they are afraid.
– Everything is incomprehensible – in our country everyone is afraid, says Katarina.
Danish TV 2 meets her on the platform at the train station in Helsinki. She has traveled from Moscow with her child, to meet her husband.
Before she left, she already saw how her homeland had begun to change.
– When we were at the store, where the goods normally stood, it was empty or there was only one copy. It’s scary, says Katarina Danish TV 2.
Few Russians dare to appear with their full names in the media, in fear of the consequences.
Russian President Vladimir Putin does not call the invasion of Ukraine a war, but a necessary “military special operation” he was threatened to carry out.
Imprisonment, police violence and propaganda should be among the Kremlin’s tools to scare the Russians from revolting.
Some have tried anyway. The total number of protesters arrested in Russia since the invasion began is now approaching 13,000.
TV 2 has previously mentioned a new bill, which kcould lead to up to 15 years in prison to oppose Putin’s regime.
– DEMONSTRATION: Russian police arrest a female protester during a protest against the war in Moscow on March 2. Photo: Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP
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– Reprehensible
– It’s just horror. There are crimes from end to end.
This is how lawyer Hanne Sophie Greve, a former judge of the European Court of Human Rights, reacts to Putin’s warfare.
– It is a war of aggression, and it is forbidden. Weapons that are not legal are used. It is attacked target, which is not legal. Everything is reprehensible and contrary to the international law of war, says Greve to TV 2.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) has initiated an invasion investigation.
The West has turned its back on Russia and imposed heavy sanctions to hit Putin. This also hits the civilian population in Russia hard.
Greve reminds that there are many in Russia who did not want this war.
– I think that the Russian people, not least the younger ones, are very willing to be Europeans and to be world citizens if only they were allowed. This is Putin’s war, says Greve.
– YOUNG PEOPLE: Young adults in particular take to the streets of Russia to protest the war in Ukraine. Photo: Olga Maltseva / AFP
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Afraid of being imprisoned
Russian journalist Boris Grozovski is among thousands of Russians who have fled.
In a Facebook status, which was later rendered on the site Poligonhe writes that many Russians have arrived in Georgia in recent days.
– Do you think we are tourists, or have we just seen wrong on the calendar and thought it was July-September? Or that we just suddenly had to have Saperavi and khachapuri? he writes.
Saperavi is a Georgian wine, while khachapuri is a traditional Georgian dish.
– We are not tourists. We are refugees. Personally, I was wanted by the police in Russia to spread signature campaigns against the war. We do not run from bullets, bombs and missiles, but from prison. If I wrote what I am writing now in Russia, I would no doubt have been imprisoned for 15 to 20 years, Grozovski writes.
The pressure on independent news sources in Russia, to only report reporting information from official sources, is higher than in a long time.
Some are censored, while those who show resistance are shut down, writes The Guardian.
According to Vice News Authorities in Georgia estimate that between 20,000 and 25,000 Russians have arrived in Georgia in recent days. There is no total overview of how many have fled.
See the striking similarity – the Russian influences say exactly the same thing
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Has had his life turned upside down
Another Russian who has traveled from Russia is film critic Anton Dolin. He is now in Latvia.
– We went. There are several reasons for this. At the same time, there is really only one – the criminal war in Ukraine, which was started by Russia, Dolin writes on Facebook.
The post was first rendered by Al Jazeera.
– It is impossible to live in a country, even a beloved homeland, where there is censorship. Especially for a person who has words as his only tool. The whole world has collapsed. The lives of everyone in Russia, who speak Russian or are involved in Russian culture, have been through an irreversible change, he writes.
Dolin says that he saw that a red “Z” had been spray-painted on his door before he left the apartment. The letter has become a pro-war symbol in Russia.
– The purpose of it is quite clear. “We know where your family lives, so be careful,” he writes.
Want to read more about how the Russians were hit during the war? See related issues below.
You get the latest news about the war in Ukraine her.
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