Flights out of Russia were nearly fully booked after President Vladimir Putin said the country will mobilise reservists to fight in Ukraine. Direct flights to cities in nearby countries of Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan were all sold out for Wednesday, the Aviasales website, popular in Russia, showed. Turkish Airlines said on its website that flights to Istanbul, which has become an important travel hub to and from Russia, were fully booked until Saturday. Mr Putin made the announcement in a televised address.
Several news outlets and journalists said on Twitter that Russian airlines have stopped selling tickets to Russian men between 18 and 65 (the fighting age) amid fears that a martial law could be imposed.
There is also a possibility that referenda will be held in the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk later this week to give Mr Putin an opportunity to officially annex those parts of Ukraine and make it official Russian territory, the outlet further said.
After Mr Putin’s address on Wednesday, Russia’s Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu claimed that 300,000 men could be called up to serve.
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