Thousands of Russians have crossed into Mongolia over its northern border in an effort to avoid being drafted to serve in Ukraine, adding pressure to the Ulaanbaatar government’s efforts to distance itself from the crisis.
After President Vladimir Putin announced a ‘partial mobilisation’ of 300,000 soldiers to fend off a counter-offensive in Russian-occupied Ukraine, Russians were forced to stand in line for hours at the border crossing at Kyakhta in the ethnically Mongol province of Buryatia. However, they claimed they had little choice.
One said, ‘My country has begun partial mobilisation, and I believe it is adversely hurting society. We waited for almost 16 hours on the Russian side of the border.’
Suren Bat-Tur has also been assisting his friends in Buryatia to avoid the draught. Suren Bat-Tur is the proprietor of a guesthouse in Ulaanbaatar’s capital that typically hosts backpackers.
Since Putin’s order to mobilise, the guesthouse has been increasingly full of Russians, and according to Bat-Tur, he has already turned away hundreds of requests for rooms.
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