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Some men flee Russia, fearing they could be called up to fight.

Since the announcement of a new troop mobilization, civilians have realized they could not count on staying out of their country’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Men rushed to catch flights out of Russia after President Vladimir V. Putin announced a call-up that could force up to 300,000 civilians into fighting in the country’s invasion of Ukraine.CreditCredit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

ISTANBUL — Since President Vladimir V. Putin’s announcement on Wednesday of a new troop call-up, Russian men who had previously thought they were safe from being forced to the front lines have realized they could not count on staying out of their country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Some have left the country in a rush, paying rising prices to catch flights to countries such as Armenia, Georgia, Montenegro and Turkey that allow them to enter without visas.

Mr. Putin officially called up only reservists, and only up to 300,000 of them, saying that only men with military experience would receive orders to report for duty. But many Russians worried that the government would impose new travel restrictions on conscription-aged men and wanted to make a quick escape just in case.

Turkey already was among the countries that received a large exodus of Russians at the beginning of the Ukraine invasion. Many were fleeing the crackdown at home, including the criminalization of dissent, with speaking out against the invasion or even calling it a war now carrying serious penalties. Others worried about the impact of international sanctions and Russia’s growing isolation on the economy and their jobs.

Now, a new wave may be beginning, and while the exact scope of it was not immediately clear, the rush for plane tickets and the long lines of cars at the borders were indications that the prospects of an expanded conscription have alarmed a swath of Russian society.

Ben Hubbard is the Istanbul bureau chief. He has spent more than a dozen years in the Arab world, including Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Yemen. He is the author of “MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman.” More about Ben Hubbard

Ivan Nechepurenko has been a Times reporter since 2015, covering politics, economics, sports and culture in Russia and the former Soviet republics. He was raised in St. Petersburg, Russia, and in Piatykhatky, Ukraine. More about Ivan Nechepurenko

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