In Finland, huge traffic jams at the border after the “partial mobilization” in Russia?

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OLIVIER MORIN / AFP Even if traffic jams are observed, as you can see in this photo from Agence France-Presse this Thursday, September 22, be careful not to see a massive exodus of Russians after the partial mobilization announced by President Vladimir Putin.

OLIVIER MORIN / AFP

Even if traffic jams are observed, as you can see in this photo from Agence France-Presse this Thursday, September 22, be careful not to see a massive exodus of Russians after the partial mobilization announced by President Vladimir Putin.

WAR IN UKRAINE – Did Russians massively flee the country, this Wednesday, September 21, after the “partial mobilization” announced the same morning by Vladimir Poutine ? Whether full flights departing from Moscow and the very high prices of many tickets departing from Russian airports suggest that some of the 300,000 reservists, called to the front in Ukrainesought to quickly leave the territory to visa-free destinations, other images should not be over-interpreted.

This is particularly the case of a video, massively relayed on social networks for 24 hours, which shows a long queue of cars stopped in front of a border post between Russia and Finlandone of the 27 countries of the European Union.

“The traffic jam has reached up to 35 kilometers and is increasing hour by hour », Explains the « independent journalist », Sotiri Dimpinoudis, at the origin of its diffusion. He also specifies that these images were filmed at “the only border that is still open for Russian civilians with Schengen visas”, without giving more context on the place, but evoking a place resembling the post of Vaalimaa regularly filmed by the local media.

A version tempered this Thursday by the country’s border guards: “Traffic on the eastern border increased overnight. There is a slight increase in the number of border crossings. However, compared to the pre-pandemic period, it is still low,” wrote on its Twitter account the national security agency, adding that “nothing has changed alarmingly in recent days” and “The situation is perfectly under control”.

Earlier, the head of international affairs for the Border Guard, Matti Pitkaniitty, told Reuters news agency that the number of people crossing the border had risen from 3,133 to 4,824 between the past two Wednesdays. A “clear increase” but in no case a figure reflecting real panic and even less than “a normal weekend”according to him.

In the northern part of Norway, the number of border crossings has not changed, Soelve Solheim, section chief for operational immigration control, told Reuters. Other queues at the border posts with Georgia or Mongolia have also been massively relayed in recent hours, without official figures yet confirming or denying the extent of these departures.

Russians can no longer fly directly to the European Union, as the bloc’s airspace has been closed since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

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