More than 200,000 Russians have travelled to neighbouring Kazakhstan since the Kremlin announced a mobilization of reservists to assist its struggling invasion effort into Ukraine, according to Kazakh Interior Minister Marat Akhmetzhanov on Tuesday.
However, he added that 147,000 Russians have also travelled onwards from Kazakhstan since September 21, without providing further details.
"Yesterday, more than 7,000 Russian citizens arrived in Kazakhstan, while about 11,000 left," said the minister. He said no entry limits on Russian arrivals are planned. He added that there have been 68 requests for Kazakh citizenship to date.
After various setbacks in more than seven months of trying to invade Ukraine and lay claim to at least parts of the country, Russia is hoping to call up about 300,000 reservists to aim forces that are reportedly undertrained, understaffed and demoralized in Ukraine.
But the move has proven unpopular in Russia, with many men choosing to flee the country rather than risk military service. Of those who are being called up, many are reporting that they were never eligible for military service.
The Kremlin has come under rare public criticism for the state of the war. Russia invaded in February claiming that it needed to demilitarize Ukraine and purge its leadership of Nazis. It has since made moves to annex four eastern provinces, on top of Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. The move has drawn widespread international criticism.
