It was September 21. His mired special operation, Vladimir Putin, clenched jaw and icy gaze, records his speech announcing a partial mobilization to, he says, “ensure the protection of the liberated populations”. Faced with the Russian army, Ukrainian troops have been making impressive progress in their counter-offensive for several weeks.
Immediately, images arrive by the thousands on social networks. Endless lines of vehicles rush towards Georgia or Kazakshtan. Requests for one-way tickets to Turkey are booming. Forbes Russia puts the figure at 700,000 Russians in exile in just two weeks.
We exchanged with one of them, Volodya. A web developer from St. Petersburg, who participated in a few political campaigns for opposition candidates. His epic can be found in our video.