Tens of thousands of Russians are fleeing their own country because of the war in Ukraine. Among them, some also take very unorthodox paths.
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the essentials in brief
- Tens of thousands of Russians have fled the country since Vladimir Putin mobilized.
- Some end up abroad in strange ways.
- Be it north of the Arctic Circle by bike or by boat to Alaska.
Since Vladimir Putin called for partial mobilization because of the Ukraine war, tens of thousands of Russians have fled their own country. They want to avoid such an impending recruitment. Some of them manage to do this on very unusual routes.
With the bike through the cold
In the British «Guardian», Ilya from Moscow tells how he got on a train to Murmansk the day after the announcement. The port city is 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle in northwestern Russia. He had a second-hand bike in his luggage, which he had bought from a friend in town.
The 27-year-old is said to have cycled to Kirkenes, across the Norwegian border. That’s over 240 kilometers. The young man said he trains for triathlons.
Russians cross ocean in boats
On the other side of the world, two Russians made headlines last week crossing Behring Strait in a mini-boat. They ended up on a remote island in Alaska, where they sought asylum to avoid recruiters in the Ukraine war.
Also by sea, eight sailors escaped from Vladivostok. According to the “BBC”, on September 27 they immediately set off on a trip to South Korea, which was actually planned for later in the year. The journey through the Sea of Japan took about five days as the boat had to circumnavigate North Korean territorial waters.
Better to go to Iran than to the Ukraine war
Just a few hours after the announcement, all flights to countries without visa restrictions were sold out. Alexei, 25, therefore booked a one-way ticket to Tehran in Iran. This despite the fact that protests against the regime had already begun there.
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“My family was worried, they asked if Iran was really safer than Russia,” he says in the Guardian. In fact, after half a day, Alexei got back on a plane to Dubai, where he has lived ever since.
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