Some Russian citizens have paid between $20,000 and $25,000 for seats on private planes to neighboring countries following Vladimir Putin’s authorization of a partial mobilization of up to 300,000 Russian reservists.
Putin said last week that some of his reserve troops would be called up as the next step in his ongoing special military operation in Ukraine.
Russians who were scared when they heard the news began to Google how to leave the country. One-way plane tickets out of Moscow sold out, and satellite images show long lines of cars at border crossings.
Men of military age in particular started leaving Russia, and many people worried that the borders would close. On Monday, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s official spokesman, denied reports that he knew anything about plans to close borders.
Russian media reported a spike in demand for pricey international plane tickets after Putin’s address, according to The Dallas Express.
“The situation is absolutely crazy at the moment,” Yevgeny Bikov, jet broker YouCharter’s director, told the Guardian. He added that his ticket demand had jumped from 50 per day to 5,000 per day.
“All the European private jet firms have left the market. There is more demand than supply now, and the prices are through the roof compared with six months ago,” Eduard Simonov, CEO of the travel company FlightWay, told The Guardian.
He said the demand for private jets has “increased by 50 times.” He also said they are having a hard time keeping up with demand because EU sanctions earlier this year made it hard to get jets.
Many European countries said they would not admit Russians fleeing mobilization; many have already stopped Russian tourists from entering. As a result, most Russians have gone to Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, which still let them in without a visa.
Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, said that only people with combat experience would be called up, and only about 1% of the 25 million eligible people would be called to serve.
Russian soldiers cannot leave until they are no longer required to be on call.
Food and energy prices have increased worldwide because of the war, and people are worried that a nuclear disaster could happen in Russia-occupied southeast Ukraine, according to The Dallas Express.