of fighting age, natalia says. not viera. i d be much happier if my son got wounded fighting in ukraine than die of alcoholism here, she says. fighting is a proper man sjob. this is not a spontaneous display of love for vladimir putin and his policies. it is a highly choreographed affair designed to give the impression that the whole country is behind the president. a lot of the people we ve spoken to here today have been brought in specially from schools, from factories and other state organisations. in ukraine today, in those areas occupied by russian troops, self styled referendums began onjoining russia. the west has denounced the votes as a sham, a smoke screen for annexation by moscow. car horn blares. back in russia, more goodbyes, more men called up to fight in ukraine. there s growing concern here that the scale of mobilisation
there s international condemnation, but at home, the official picture is they trust putin. many of the people here, though, didn t trust us. when we asked the simple question, why have you come to this rally? , there was a certain reluctance to answer. but they had something to say on the subject of mobilisation. the call up is worrying everyone with relatives of fighting age, natalia says. not viera. i d be much happier if my son got wounded fighting in ukraine than die of alcoholism here, she says. fighting is a proper man sjob. this is not a spontaneous display of love for vladimir putin and his policies. it is a highly choreographed affair, designed to give the impression that the whole country is behind the president. a lot of the people we ve spoken to here today have been brought in specially from schools, from factories
there s more expected over the next few days. we are still seeing thousands upon thousands of people, mainly men of fighting age, but also with their families as well, trying as best they can to get out, get out of the country, train stations packed, trains traveling outside of the country filled with young men of fighting age. lines of cars towards the borders in the west and the south, other directions as well. just doing whatever they can. flights as well. absolutely packed, sold-out as soon as the tickets become available. there s people desperately trying to get out of russia, because even though vladimir putin has made it clear that he intends to conscript reservists, people with military experience, and he s calling it a partial mobilization, nobody really buys that. people are concerned this is going to be much, much broader. and already there are stories about people who have never been
tried to show the people still back their president and what he s doing in ukraine. within days, vladimir putin is expected to annex a huge swathe of ukrainian territory. there s international condemnation, but at home, the official picture is they trust putin. many of the people here, though, didn t trust us. when we asked the simple question, why have you come to this rally? , there was a certain reluctance to answer. but they had something to say on the subject of mobilisation. the callup is worrying everyone with relatives of fighting age, natalia says. not viera. i d be much happier if my son got wounded fighting in ukraine then die of alcoholism here, she says. fighting is a proper man sjob. this is not a spontaneous display of love for vladimir putin and his policies.
country, too, has l different weapons of destruction. in some cases, they are more modern than those of nato. if the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, then to defend russia and our people we shall, of course, use all means at our disposal. i am not bluffing. so, why the threat, and why now? well, in a few days time, the kremlin will try to annex a whole swathe of ukrainian territory. vladimir putin s sabre rattling sends a message to ukraine and to the west don t attack, don t try to take those areas back. as news of mobilisation spread, there were reports that flights out of russia were selling out fast amid concern that men of fighting age would soon not be allowed to leave the country.