Russians rush for flights out amid partial reservist call-up

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC
Associated Press

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Large numbers of Russians have rushed 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. Flights filled up quickly and the prices of tickets for remaining connections sky-rocketed on Wednesday, apparently driven by fears that Russia’s borders could soon close. Tickets for the Moscow-Belgrade flights operated by Air Serbia, the only European carrier besides Turkish Airlines to maintain flights to Russia despite a European Union flight embargo, sold out for the next several days. The price for flights from Moscow to Istanbul or Dubai kept increasing, reaching as high as 9,200 euros ($9,119) for a one-way economy class fare.