Putin has succeeded in mobilising a Russian army on the borders… not to fight, but flee
They come on foot, bicycles, cars and even electric scooters.
They bring what they can which isn’t much, dragging their suitcases behind them. Some have dogs and others cat boxes. They are exhausted after a journey that has taken days, but all seem hugely relieved to have left Putin’s Russia.
One couple laughed with relief. “Very tired, but happy,” said Katy. The relief seemed almost to overwhelm her.
We are on Georgia’s border crossing with Russia. It straddles a pass high in the Caucasus. A steady stream of Russians are coming through. They tell stories of chaos on the other side.
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Vitaly and Maria have four children. They left home four days ago. The last two they had spent walking and queuing with thousands of others crammed into the narrow gorge on the Russian side. They also had to bribe guards to have any chance of getting through.
Those waiting to cross face an anxious ordeal. The temperature at this altitude is either very cold, in the shade or roasting hot in the sun. One couple told us of moments of panic as rumours swept through the crowds that authorities would soon close the border – or were sending the military to find men of mobilisation age and pack them off to the front.
Some are too scared to talk even outside of Russia, fearful of retribution against their families left behind. Others seize the opportunity to speak their mind, almost shaking with anger as they do.
“Putin is a murderer,” Vitaly told me with a smouldering fury.
They had told the children they were going to the seaside he said. They couldn’t risk telling them the truth in case they passed it on to strangers. They won’t be going back until there is a change of government and a new president.
“My boy is 17 next year,” he said, pointing to his eldest. “He will be taken to the army. The war is not going to end tomorrow. If he goes, what, did I raise him for Putin?”
Vitaly and his family say they won’t return to Russia until there is a new government
They had left everything behind apart from what is in their suitcases. They even abandoned their car on the border. They had no plans beyond catching a taxi to Tbilisi, but even a future that uncertain, they said, was preferable to life under Putin.
Putin’s mobilisation decree has prompted a massive increase in the numbers of people leaving.
We met only one man who had actually received call-up papers. ‘Nick’ is now on the run from authorities who want to send him to Ukraine to fight.
His government “wants to make meat from me” he told us. He was a scientist and an engineer and has so much more than that he said to give to his country.
We have met IT specialists, managers and even a nuclear physicist. They have all given up their jobs and walked out of Russia.
Russia is haemorrhaging its brightest and best. It is a huge tragedy for the country that it will take years to recover from.
This satellite image shows the large traffic jam of trucks and cars waiting to cross the Georgian border
But it may also be exactly what the regime wants as it plots its future. The young and the savvy who have the best chance to see beyond the state’s lies and propaganda and what is really going on in their country.
One official has said as much – Ella Pamfilova, the head of Russia’s election commission.
“Let the rats who are running run,” she is quoted as saying. “The ship will be ours. It’s gaining strength and clearly moving towards its target.”
As an observer on Twitter noted, she seems gloriously unaware of the reason rats flee ships.
A mass exodus is under way. In less than a week, the number of Russians fleeing has doubled. Before Putin’s mobilisation announcement 300,000 had left – but in the week since at least that number have left.
They are fleeing into Mongolia, Finland, Kazakhstan and Georgia. Many are the younger ones, better educated and best qualified because they are of fighting age and do not want to be called up to fight.
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What’s happening on Russia’s borders as people flee Putin’s order
Vladimir Putin has succeeded in mobilising an army of Russians, mustering on the borders, not to fight but to flee.
The reservists that authorities do successfully corral into the army will likely be reluctant and demoralised. There have been multiple protests against the draft by young Russian men who do not want to fight.
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On Russian state TV, pundits openly urged the government to round up artists, street musicians, the mentally disabled and ethnic minorities and send them to war. Even by their own bigoted standards it was a startling exchange between state-funded propagandists.
Putin is looking increasingly unlikely to win this war, and the addition of hastily trained, poorly motivated men, even in their hundreds of thousands is not likely to change that.
But he is prepared it seems to send many more to the front. Between 40,000 and 80,000 have been killed or injured in this war already. Many more will follow.
World
Myanmar frees more than 6,000 prisoners as country marks anniversary of independence from Britain
More than 6,000 prisoners have been released in Myanmar as part of an amnesty to mark the 77th anniversary of the country’s independence from Britain.
The head of Myanmar’s military government has granted amnesties for 5,864 prisoners from the Southeast Asian country, as well as 180 foreigners who will now be deported, state-run media said.
The freed inmates included just a small proportion of hundreds of political detainees locked up for opposing army rule since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar’s military takeover in February 2021 was met with a huge nonviolent resistance, which has since developed into a widespread armed struggle.
A released prisoner waves after leaving the jail. Pic: AP
The freeing of prisoners began on Saturday and in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, buses took detainees out of the Insein Prison. Many were met by loved ones who eagerly held up signs with their names.
If the freed inmates break the law again, they will have to serve the remainder of their sentences alongside any new ones, the terms of release state.
In another report, MRTV television said government leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has also reduced the life sentences of 144 prisoners to 15 years.
Family members held signs with their loved ones’ names as the buses appeared. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
All other inmates’ sentences have been reduced by one sixth, apart from those convicted under the Explosive Substances Act, the Unlawful Associations Act, the Arms Act and the Counterterrorism Law – all laws which are often used against opponents of military rule.
According to rights organisation the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 28,096 people have been arrested on political charges since the army takeover, and 21,499 of those remained in jail as of Friday.
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Released prisoners are hugged by loved ones and family. Pic: AP
Zaw Min Tun, a spokesperson for the military government, told journalists those released include about 600 people prosecuted under a law which makes it a crime to spread comments that create public unrest or fear, or spread false news.
There has been no suggestion the releases include that of Myanmar’s former leader Suu Kyi, who – now aged 79 – is serving a 27-year sentence after being prosecuted for a number of politically-tinged charges.
Aung San Suu Kyi. File pic: Reuters
Most of the foreigners being freed are Thai people arrested for gambling in a border town, the spokesperson added.
It is not uncommon for Myanmar to mark holidays and significant occasions with prisoner releases.
The country became a British colony in the late 1800s and regained independence on 4 January 1948.
Drive an hour outside China’s commercial capital Shanghai, and you’ll reach Elon Musk’s Tesla gigafactory.
It manufactures almost one million Tesla cars a year and produces more than half of all its cars worldwide.
But with US president-elect Donald Trump preparing to move into the White House, the relationship between his new buddy Elon Musk and the leadership of China‘s Communist Party is in sharp focus.
Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory. Pic: Lex Ramsay
Shanghai has been the key to Tesla’s success, largely thanks to the city’s former Communist Party secretary, now China’s premier, Li Qiang.
Chief executive of Shanghai-based Auto Mobility Limited, Bill Russo, says: “Qiang is China’s number two person. His position in Shanghai made everything possible for Tesla.”
He added: “In 2017, China adjusted its policy guidelines for the automotive industry to allow foreign companies to own their factories in China.
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Musk, Trump and China explained
“Tesla signed its deal in 2018, broke ground in 2019, and started producing the Model 3 in 2020.”
The factory opened at breakneck speak and in record time.
In April, Musk met Qiang in Beijing, later posting on X: “Honoured to meet with Premier Li Qiang. We have known each other now for many years, since early Shanghai days.”
Elon Musk met Chinese premier Li Qiang in Beijing in April 2024. Pic: AP
The Musk-China ties go all the way to the top.
When China’s President Xi Jinping visited the US in November 2023 he met Musk, who posted: “May there be prosperity for all” – echoing the language often used by China’s government.
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Inside a Tesla showroom in Shanghai. Pic: Lex Ramsay
Musk has previously weighed into the debate over the status of Taiwan. Two years ago, he suggested tensions could be eased by giving China some control over Taiwan.
This comment incensed Taiwan’s leaders.
Chinese commentator Einar Tangen, from the Taihe Institute in Beijing, says: “If Musk had said anything else, he could face action against the Shanghai plants. He’s not going to endanger that. He’s playing both sides for his own advantage.”
What’s in it for China?
Musk needs China, and in the months to come, China may need Musk.
He could act as a well-connected middleman between the Chinese Communist Party and Trump, in the face of a potential global trade war.
“Like it or not, we are living in a world where China is the dominant player in the race to an electric future,” says Russo.
Musk pioneered the EV industry in China, but is now struggling to compete with local car brands like BYD and Nio.
Elon Musk’s support helped propel Donald Trump to a second term in the White House. Pic: AP
The relationship between Musk and Trump could become volatile, but for now, Musk stands to benefit.
“Donald Trump has never had a problem giving exceptions to friends,” Tangen says.
“It fits his personality, that he can grant pardons and give favours to the people and companies he chooses.”
Musk ‘the pioneer’
Musk is well regarded as a pioneer in China and most people speak of him highly.
Strolling along the Bund waterfront area in Shanghai, Benton Tang says: “Tesla really impacted the entire industry here.
“It pushed people to develop and improve the quality, the design and especially the price.”
Chinese vehicle manufacturers like BYD provide stiff competition for Tesla. Pic: Lex Ramsay
Interest in the Musk family has also gripped China’s online community.
His mother, Maye Musk, frequently visits the country, where she has a huge social media following as a senior-age celebrity fashion icon and endorses several Chinese products including a mattress brand.
Her book, A Woman Makes A Plan, has been translated into Chinese and is a bestseller here.
Maye Musk. Pic: Reuters
Meanwhile, as the countdown to Trump’s inauguration gains pace, the spotlight on the president-elect’s coterie of advisers intensifies.
In the middle of the glare is Elon Musk.
China waits to see what that will mean for them.
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