Moscow will not give out passports to Russians mobilised by the army, a government information portal said Wednesday, as fears of travel restrictions rise and tens of thousands flee the country.
“If a citizen is summoned for army service or received a summons (for mobilisation), he will be refused a passport,” the government website said.
It added that those who are not issued a passport will be notified how long the hold will be in place.
Since President Vladimir Putin announced a mobilisation to prop up the Russian army in Ukraine, tens of thousands have crossed into neighbouring countries to evade the draft.
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Many have feared that men of military age would be barred from leaving the country, with reports that some have already been turned away.
Only a minority of Russians hold a passport that allows them to leave the country.
Russia also has a system of “internal passports” — a document used as a form of ID and accepted in some of Russia’s ex-Soviet neighbours.
The portal did not mention restrictions on the handout of those documents.
Russians can travel to Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan — where many have fled to since Putin announced mobilisation — on internal passports.
