Viktor Sobolev, a member of the Russian State Duma's defense committee, said Russians who leave the country because of rumors about a new wave of mobilization are "not needed" by Russia. "I think they are not leaving in vain, we simply don't need them. If they don't love their homeland so much and leave somewhere just based on rumors, we simply don't need them. So let them leave," the lawmaker said in an interview with RTVI, as cited by The Moscow Times RU.
Sobolev also assured that Russian authorities have no plans to conduct mobilization. According to him, military enlistment offices in all regions are coping with the General Staff's task of recruiting contract servicemen, so there is no such need.
Rumors of possible mobilization after September's State Duma elections triggered an increase in the number of Russians leaving the country through the Verkhny Lars land border crossing on the border with Georgia. According to the Federal Customs Service, about 113,000 people crossed the border last week, with the flow exceeding 20,000 on August 20 — significantly higher than usual figures.
During the 2022 mobilization, Georgia became one of the main destinations for those seeking to avoid conscription.