Russian officials sought to calm the public, stressing that the call-up would affect a limited number of people fitting certain criteria. However, conflicting statements and a lack of details helped fuel the panic.

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The head of the Duma’s defence committee, Andrei Kartapolov, said there would be no additional restrictions on reservists leaving Russia based on this mobilisation. But he also advised individuals who could be eligible for the call-up against “travelling to resorts in Turkey.”

“Spend your vacation at the resorts of Crimea or (Russia’s southern) Krasnodar region,” Russian media quoted Kartapolov as saying.

A group based in Serbia, called Russians, Belarussians, Ukrainians and Serbs Together Against War, tweeted that there were no available flights to Belgrade from Russia until mid-October. Flights to Turkey, Georgia or Armenia also sold out, according to the Belgrade-based group.

“All the Russians who wanted to go to war already went,” the group said. “No one else wants to go there!”

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One Russian man named Sergey said he had prepared for a Russian mobilisation scenario and quickly brought his 17-year-old son out of Russia.

“The tickets didn’t cost too much, as I was probably quick enough. And we got through the border just fine,” he said upon arriving on Wednesday at the airport in the Armenian capital of Yerevan.

His son, Nikolai, said, “I haven’t gotten a letter from the recruitment office yet” but he was still researching possible exemptions, “so we left.” They declined to give their last names.

Serbia’s capital of Belgrade has become a popular destination for Russians during the war. Up to 50,000 Russians have fled to Serbia since Russia invaded Ukraine in February and many have opened businesses, especially in the IT sector.

Russians don’t need visas to enter Serbia, which has not joined Western sanctions against Russia for its aggression in Ukraine. Allies such as Belarus and China also have not imposed sanctions on Russia.

A Wednesday flight from Moscow to Belgrade was packed with young Russian men who said they could not speak to reporters because they feared negative repercussions for the families they left behind. A Russian woman, who identified herself as Yulia, said she, too, was afraid “my government and police” might see her remarks.

“But I want to say, ‘Freedom for Ukraine.’ Please, somebody stop Putin,” she said.

AP