Finland expects more Russian deserters after Russia tightens conscription laws

Ukrainska Pravda
·1 min read
7

The Finnish Border Guard expects the number of people trying to flee Russia to go up after Russia tightened its conscription laws.

Source: European Pravda, citing Yle, the Finnish Broadcasting Company

Quote from Jukka Lukkari, Deputy Commander of the Border Guard in South-Eastern Finland: "Internal Russian processes might affect border traffic. The threat of illegal border crossings might grow, though we don’t expect a significant rise in border traffic."

Details: Lukkari added that Finnish border guards were preparing for the possible changes at the border.

He also said that many changes had happened in Russia over the course of his service in the Finnish Border Guard, but "it’s always difficult to predict how [those changes] will play out at the border".

Yle reported that 11 illegal crossings have occurred on Finland’s southeastern border so far this summer, of which seven were defectors from Russia to Finland.

Background:

  • In July, Russia raised the age limit for conscription of men to 30, closed the border for persons that had been called up to the military commissariat, and increased the fine for failure to appear tenfold.

  • Restrictions on Russians entering Finland have been in place since September 2022 amid a wave of Russian mobilisation, and in July, the Finnish government further tightened these measures.

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