Armed Russian soldiers training in Belarus have escaped from a military camp, according to reports from the country. Putin’s troops were supposed to be training on the longtime Moscow ally state’s turf before they broke free.
Belarus has now imposed various roadblocks and checkpoints to find the armed soldiers at large, Belsat media website reported.
“There is a roadblock at the exit to the city on the Zaslavye-Kolodishchi road, they don’t check everyone, they check selectively. There is a bus with soldiers in camouflage near the store ‘Hipa’ on this route”, they wrote.
At the same time, markets were asked to “increase vigilance” and report suspicious people to the authorities.
A search for a group of men in military uniform, aged up to 40, has been announced in the Minsk region.
A large number of military personnel, patrols with riot police and fire equipment were spotted on January 5 in the Dokshytsky district near Byagomlje.
The reports come as scores of Chechens amassed near Bosnia’s northwestern border with EU member state Croatia last week in a bid to escape Putin’s war on Ukraine.
“They want to reach the European Union because, in their own words, they are fleeing military draft”, the Bosnian Security Ministry said.
Russians can enter Bosnia without a visa and are permitted to stay in the country for a maximum of 90 days within a 180-day period. But to enter Croatia, which is set to join Europe’s visa-free travel zone, the Schengen Area, on Jan. 1, they must hold a valid visa.
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Bosnia became a bottleneck for Europe-bound migrants from the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa in 2015, when other nations in the Balkans and central Europe closed off previously established migration paths in the region.
Isa Daduyev from the Assembly of Chechens of Europe, said: “The biggest issue is mobilisation into the army to participate in the war in Ukraine.
“If you refuse to join the army you face a prison sentence.”
