After Putin’s Announcement: One-Way Tickets for Flights from Russia Sold Out in Minutes

One-way flights from Russia sold out literally in minutes after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the immediate mobilization of 300,000 reservists earlier today, Reuters reported.

Putin's address, broadcast early in the morning on tape, sparked fear and panic that men fit to bear arms would no longer be allowed to leave the country.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu assured that mobilization would be limited to those with experience as professional soldiers and that students and conscripts would not be called up under the flags.

However, Google Trends showed a sharp increase in search for Aviasales, Russia's most popular site for buying airline tickets.

The website's data shows that all direct flights from Moscow to Istanbul and Yerevan are completely sold out. Both countries do not require visas for Russian citizens.

There are also no tickets for some connecting flights, such as through Tbilisi, while the cheapest tickets to Dubai cost 300,000 rubles ($5,000), or five times the average monthly salary in Russia.

Aeroflot and its affiliated companies Rossiya and Pobeda stated that they are operating as usual and have not introduced any restrictions on the issuance of tickets, according to a press release of the airline, quoted by TASS.

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