By Dimitri Kavalerov Published on 09/19/2026 – 7:00 GMT+2 Russians, fearing new military mobilization, are leaving the country ahead of possible exit restrictions, according to the Ark anti-war project, after requests for emergency assistance and emigration advice from Russia have almost quadrupled since the start of summer. The increase coincides with elections to Russia’s State Duma, which began on Friday and run through Sunday. Critics of the Kremlin and several Western governments have accused Moscow of planning to announce a new call-up to reinforce its troops in its ongoing all-out war in Ukraine after voting concludes, allowing an unpopular move to avoid affecting the election. Russia’s Vladimir Putin has dismissed rumors of mobilization as “absolutely absurd,” but independent Russian media has counted 17 official denials of an imminent draft since the summer. Jan Slovitsky, a human rights activist and coordinator of the Ark project, said the current wave is driven by lessons learned in 2022. “A wave of panic has been rising in Russia since mid-July, linked to the risk of mobilization, fuel shortages and lack of internet access,” he told the Ark network from Yerevan, where he is helping new arrivals. “People are leaving earlier because they have seen what happened in previous waves. And Armenia is facing a migration crisis, if we are not already in the middle of it.” Online searches for ‘How to leave’ increase The number of daily requests for relocation assistance has increased from around 70 to 120 since July, according to organizations that help Russians move abroad. Searches on Yandex and Google for “how to leave” and “mobilization” reached their highest level since early 2023 during the summer and the first ten days of September, according to an analysis by independent Russian media. Preparations for a possible call are already visible. Tens of thousands of people have received mobilization notices setting out the necessary steps if they are called up, and an electronic summons register has been introduced under which the exit ban automatically takes effect when a notice is issued. In early September, passport control officers in Krasnodar detained a 24-year-old resident of the Rostov region, who had completed his military service in 2024, and served him with a notice prohibiting him from leaving the country, the first such case reported at that crossing. Daniil Neonov, a former candidate for municipal deputy in the Moscow City Duma, described his departure at the last moment. “If I had waited one or two more days, they most likely wouldn’t have let me out, because they would have blocked my exit,” he said. “I received an electronic summons. But I still managed to get out.” Fear of mobilization has also spread to members of the elite and recruitment office staff, according to international media reports claiming that officials have begun opening bank accounts abroad and moving assets abroad. In August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of the risk of mobilization in Russia, citing intelligence. kyiv outlined a Kremlin plan to quickly recall several hundred thousand Russians before the end of the year, and at least the same number again the following year. Moscow has not commented on those claims. First the neighboring countries. Arrivals are mainly headed to visa-free destinations: Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan. Yerevan said in recent days that it was ready to help Russians arriving in the country. The exact scale of the current wave is unknown, but it is likely to be less intense than the 2022 exodus, when between 600,000 and 700,000 people left Russia within weeks of the partial mobilization announcement, according to independent estimates. That mobilization has never been formally canceled and those summoned then have not been demobilized. “It’s very sad to leave Russia,” said a 28-year-old marketing specialist, whose name was not revealed for security reasons. “My family lives here, my elderly grandparents live here. My girlfriend is here too, she’s still in her medical residence and it’s very hard for me to leave her behind.” The elections to the Russian Duma, which will be held from September 18 to 20, include only parties that support Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Yabloko, whose platform called for an immediate ceasefire and peace talks, was banned by the Supreme Court from running as a candidate in August.
