MOSCOW (Realist English). The exodus of the male population from Russia can provoke disruptions for critical areas of society — from factories to Internet providers. Elizabeth Braw, a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, writes about this in an article for Politico.
“Last month, many Russians had evidently already concluded that mobilization couldn’t be far off. We know this because in August, more than 260,000 Russians entered Georgia — up from 45,000 in August 2021. And in the six days after Putin’s mobilization announcement, nearly 100,000 Russians entered Kazakhstan, with the suddenly booked-up flights to countries like Turkey and the United Arab Emirates illustrating the exodus now taking place.
The men now desperately leaving Russia are, of course, able-bodied and of working age — and their departure is an enormous loss to the armed forces. But both the mobilization and the flight of so many men, at least as numerous as those being drafted, will create another problem — the absence of qualified workers in every sector. And the country has no set system for the continuity of its society during wartime,” the expert explains.
According to Braw, since the announcement of the partial mobilization, about 360 thousand citizens of the Russian Federation have already gone to Georgia and Kazakhstan.
The mobilization started on September 21, 2022. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that about 300 thousand people will be called up as part of the mobilization. We are talking about those who have served, have a military accounting specialty or have combat experience.
Earlier, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that for the entire period of the special military operation, the republic has already exceeded the conscription plan by 254%. However, he did not give specific figures.