Western news outlets have taken to reporting about a mass exodus of Russian men leaving the country in droves to avoid conscription into the Russian Army to fight in Ukraine. While there’s no doubt the same thing would happen in the U.S. and Europe, the Western press interprets it as an act of defiance by Russian youth unwilling to fight in the Ukraine War Whether admitted to or not Russian young men heading to the exists runs counter to Western ideas of the Russian Federation, a totalitarian state led by 69-year-old dictator Vladimir Putin, the architect of the Ukraine War. Reporting on Russian men heading for expensive flights or leaving the country for neighboring countries give a very different picture of Russia, a state that affords its citizens the same kinds of mobility at other countries in the Weat. Whether or not that stays the same in the near future is anyone’s guess.
Putin could very easily place travel restrictions on the Russia borders, preventing draft-age young me from fleeing Russia. “I’m against the war and I’m not going to be a part of it. I’m not going to be a murderer. I’m not going to kill people,” said a 41-year-old man calling himself Yevgeny heading to Turkey to avoid conscription. Conscription by any Western power would undoubtedly, whatever the cause, lead to the same kind of draft evasion. President Joe Biden, 79, threatened Sept. 17 that he would commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan. How ironic that Biden would defend Taiwan with U.S. soldiers but not Ukraine, despite Ukraine being part of Europe. Biden hasn’t considered the backlash to the voluntary military from any major call up of U.S. troops, entering another bloody foreign war. Instead or working toward peace, Biden has done everything to fund a U.S. proxy war against the Kremlin.
Watching Russian young men flee for parts unknown to avoid Putin’s 300,000 man call up give a free X-Ray to Biden if he wants to know what would happen in the U.S. Today’s voluntary military could not handle any major war with Russia or China yet Biden keeps pushing both countries to the brink. Russia’s Defense Ministry said today that it would be issuing exemptions to citizens that work in high tech, communications or finance, “to ensure the operations” of the Russian economy, reported the Tass state news agency. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre jumped to the conclusion that avoiding conscription meant the war in Ukraine was unpopular in Russia. Jean-Pierre can’t see the future parallel in the U.S. that no matter how popular or unpopular there would be a backlash by U.S. citizens to signing up or agreeing to fight in Europe or Asia.
Biden’s White House didn’t know how to respond to Putin’s call up of 300,000 troops to fight the Ukraine War. “What Putin is doing—he is not coming from a place of strength,” Jean-Pierre said. “He’s coming from a place of weakness,” making utterly meaningless statements. Putin’s move comes after Biden and Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky showed no interest in ending the Ukraine War, until Putin pulls out of every inch of Ukrainian land. Putin controlled the Donbass areas of Donetsk and Luhansk before the war, in addition to the Crimean Peninsula. Putin seized Crimea March 1, 2014, after a CIA-backed coup toppled the pro-Kremlin Kiev government of Viktor Yanykovych. Putin seized Crimea to protect his Sevastopol naval base in Crimea. For the past eight years, Ukraine has fought a bloody battle with pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region.
German spokesman Maximillan Kall said that Russia deserters crossing into Germany would be given political asylum. “Those who bravely stand up to Putin’s regime and there by put themselves in great danger can apply for asylum in Germany on the grounds of political persecution,” said German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. Deserters would receive refugee status in Germany, said Kall. Other EU officials felt differently than Germany about Russian refugees. Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkewics said many of the Russians fleeing “were fine killing Ukranians. They did not protest the wary, it’s is no right to consider them as conscientious objectors.” Germany’s view of fleeing Russian citizens to avoid conscription in the Russian army says more about undermining Putin’s war strategy than anything else. If they give aid-and-comfort to Russians, they keep them off the battlefield.
Russian fleeing conscription mirrors the future of any U.S. attempt to send troops into battle in Ukraine or Taiwan to battle China. How superficial to say that Putin’s 300,000 call up was a “act of weakness” on Putin’s part, not a long-term commitment to battle the U.S. as long as necessary in Ukraine. Kremlin officials no longer view the war as between Ukraine and Russia, they view it as a war with the U.S. Biden made it clear March 26 he wants Putin out of office, supplying lethal arms to Ukraine for the purpose of breaking the Russian military. Russian soldiers fleeing to avoid military service is not different that any country, including the U.S., where young people don’t agree with their governments. Putin’s 300,000-man call up is designed to get Biden and Zelensky to go to the Istanbul peace table to resolve the conflict. As it stands now, there’s no end to the conflict regardless of Ukraine’s destruction.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
