VThe Italian Averin has his hands full with what the 38-year-old Russian calls “demonetisation.” Averin gives advice to Russians who are preparing for mobilization in the country Kazakhstan want to leave. He has been living in the country’s largest city, Almaty, since last spring. Because as a prominent member of the election observation and democracy movement “Golos” (Voice), Averin, as he reported in an interview from Kazakhstan, threatened criminal prosecution in Russia.

Kazakhstan is likely to be the country that has had Russia as its president since last Wednesday. Vladimir Putin The mobilization announced that most of the Russians had left the country, effectively fleeing. The border between the two countries is the longest land border on Earth, with many crossings. Russians can cross it with their ID card counterpart, as both Kazakhstan and Russia are members of the Eurasian Economic Union. However, Averin advises his asylum seekers to take their passport with them if possible: the entry stamp is a prerequisite for many services in Kazakhstan. However, in an emergency, an application for a passport can be made at the Russian Consular Post in Kazakhstan – this is another advantage of the country.

Since Western sanctions against Russian banks following the attack on Ukraine, the neighboring country to the south has become the target of many Russians who apply for a tax number and open an account with it. Because Kazakhstan, which traditionally seeks to be on good terms with all parties within the framework of a “multi-vector policy”, does not risk being subject to Western sanctions and can also act as a gateway . Russia to serve. It is unclear how many Russians have arrived since Wednesday, initially to stay in the country and see how mobilization develops, or to travel further, for example via airports in the capital Astana and Almaty. From. It may well be thousands of Russians.

Kazakhstan does not want to recognize the “referendum”.

So far, Averin reports, the vast majority have managed to leave the country. On the Russian side, he is aware of only two cases in which men were prevented from leaving the country on the basis of orders from military commissioners. Some people leaving the country would be asked by border guards – who belong to the FSB secret service – if they were part of a “special operation”. Ukraine And mobilization knew. Rumors of an imminent border closure are fueling the influx, but such conditions on Russia’s border with Georgia do not exist with Kazakhstan. Vuestes reports from the Caucasus: before the Verkhny Lars checkpoint, the only crossing point between Russia and Georgia through which entry into the uninhabited parts of the South Caucasian country is possible (since the Russians coming through the broken regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia do not will be able to enter Georgia free), thousands of cars line up. There are reports of bribery and ‘mobile operational groups’ of local officials are now giving draft notices. Georgia is said to have no plans to restrict the entry of Russians.