Baltics say no automatic asylum for Russians fleeing draft

By LIUDAS DAPKUS
Associated Press

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — The three Baltic states say they are not prepared to automatically offer asylum to Russians fleeing mobilization into the military. Baltic authorities hope instead that discontent with the Russian authorities will grow at home. Large numbers of Russians reportedly rushed Wednesday to book one-way tickets out of the country after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of military reservists for the war in Ukraine. In Latvia, the foreign minister said his country would not issue humanitarian or other visas to Russians seeking to avoid mobilization, citing security reasons. Government officials in Estonia and Lithuania are taking the same position.