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Second Wave of Conscription Letters Uses Teachers to Find Hiding Fathers
Forbes Russia has reported that sources close to the presidential administration in Moscow estimate that since September 21st, the day President Vladimir Putin announced a “partial mobilization,” 419,000 men have fled Russia.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s head of communications, denies that the number is this high but admits that quite a few have left. The speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament and a potential successor to Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, wants all men who left the country after the mobilization announcement to be punished.
“In their homeland, which they abandoned, they still have parents, grandparents, and relatives. Their act is a betrayal of the country,” the politician wrote on his Telegram channel.
“In the future, many will regret this. The realization of the mistake upon returning to Russia will definitely come, but it will be too late,” he added (Potential Putin Successor Slams ‘Betrayal.’)
Russia’s Defense Ministry, however, said that anyone who left can return without punishment but Volodin in his Telegram channel contradicts that and says lists are being prepared on all of the men who fled.
