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Russian couples hug in tears before men are forced into war in Ukraine as European Council head says EU must give asylum to those fleeing Putin’s press gangs
- Families saying their last goodbyes as recruits were sent to the front lines
- More than 300,000 reservists and prisoners mobilized in Putin’s desperate attempt
- EU president Charles Michel: bloc must offer asylum to Russian war objectors
- It came when Russia started organizing ‘referendums’ in Moscow-occupied parts of Ukraine
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Russian couples have had to say a heartbreaking goodbye as hundreds of thousands of army reservists and prisoners are sent to Ukraine, new images show.
Train stations and military checkpoints have become the scene of tear-jerking divorces, often involving young couples — and men who don’t want to fight.
Putin’s failed invasion of the neighboring country has led to another partial mobilization of 300,000 men – including prisoners and even attempts to recruit the dead.
A young Russian recruit and his partner kiss outside a recruitment center in Volgograd today
A young woman looks despondent as her boyfriend prepares to enlist in Putin’s army
Families bid farewell as Russia’s partial mobilization continues
Protests erupted in major cities after the Kremlin leader’s announcement of the troop increase, as lines lined the country’s borders as young men tried to flee.
Soldiers have also been spotted drinking and fighting on their way to training.
European Council President Charles Michel yesterday advised EU members to offer asylum to conscientious objectors leaving Russia to avoid the draft.
A mother of a young soldier wipes away tears as he is taken by bus to a training camp to prepare
A tearful father holds his child as he prepares to say goodbye and fight on the frontline in Ukraine
The EU should be open “to those who don’t want to be instrumentalized by the Kremlin,” he said.
“If in Russia people are in danger because of their political views, because they don’t follow this crazy Kremlin decision to start this war in Ukraine, then we have to take that into account,” he said. Politics.
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu previously said: “The refusal to fulfill your civic duty in Russia or the desire to do so is not a sufficient ground to be granted asylum in another country.”
Man hugs his mother as police and fellow recruits watched in Volgograd today
It came as Ukrainians in Russian-occupied parts of the country were visited by soldiers and ordered to vote in “referendums” that were widely condemned by international observers.
In a poll labeled “ridiculous,” it was estimated that 97 percent in Donetsk and Luhansk were in favor of joining Russia.
Ballot boxes have also been opened across Russia itself, ostensibly to allow displaced Ukrainians to vote.
Escaped Russians get off a bus from Saint Petersburg to Helsinki airport earlier today
Road travel remains a good option for Russians hoping to avoid Putin’s latest mobilization
But in reality, they offer more opportunities for vote fraud.
Melinda Simmons, Britain’s ambassador to Ukraine, said the election’s outcome was “already decided” and described the “mock referendum” as a “media exercise to continue an illegal invasion of Russia.”
The votes nevertheless mark an important development in the war, as the mock results will allow Putin to tell a story that any Ukrainian attempt to reclaim those territories is an attack on Russia itself.
That widens the range of options he can use to “defend” his territory – including perhaps nuclear weapons.
It would also allow Putin to upgrade his “special military operation” to a full-scale war, expanding his powers to enlist men and punish those who try to quit.