Borders tighten as Russians flee mobilisation

What did the exit of Russians from their country look like by 29 September 2022, and what did it mean for Ukraine's neighbours? On that date, Finland announced it would deny entry to Russian tourists from Thursday night, cutting off the last direct link between Russia and the European Union.

A closing set of doors

The Finnish decision came after several days in which neighbouring states reacted to people leaving Russia. On 27 September 2022, Latvia announced a state of emergency over the influx of Russian citizens fleeing mobilisation, with special measures in border regions and at all ports of entry. The same day, Kazakhstan said around 98,000 Russian civilians had entered the country by land and air since Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered a military mobilisation.

Pressure was visible on Russia's own side of the frontier too. On 28 September 2022, a mobile draft centre was built at the Torfyanovka checkpoint, the busiest on the Finland–Russia border, to stop people fit to serve from leaving. By midday it had not yet opened. Also on 28 September, North Ossetia–Alania, home to the only border crossing between Russia and Georgian-controlled territory, banned all Russian cars without the republic's licence plates, with an exception for tourists travelling to the region. This came as people fleeing the draft overwhelmed the border.

War continues on the ground

The same day, civilians in Ukraine were being killed. According to Mykolaiv mayor Oleksandr Sienkievych, a Russian cluster munition attack on a bus stop in the city killed three people and injured 12 others. In Dnipro, local authorities said Russian forces struck a residential neighbourhood with a cruise missile, killing a family of four, including two children, and injuring 18 other civilians.

Why the day matters

Taken together, the reports show two pressures running in parallel. Mobilisation was pushing people towards Russia's exits, and neighbouring governments were responding with emergency declarations, vehicle restrictions and, in Finland's case, an entry ban for tourists. Meanwhile, strikes on a bus stop and a residential street showed the cost of the war for Ukrainian civilians.

For border states, the practical question was how many people could be admitted and under what conditions. Finland's step narrowed the options for Russians seeking to reach the EU directly, leaving them with the routes that remained open elsewhere, such as those into Kazakhstan and Georgian-controlled territory that the reports described as under strain.