Lines of cars and equipment of Russians, mostly young men, dragging their bags across the border from Kazakhstan this week echoed the exodus seen from Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered a project.
“Every day more and more people arrive, we just don’t know where to place them,” said Diana Mukanayeva, who spontaneously arrived at an exercise station on the border.
Kazakhstan has seen an unprecedented influx and said on Tuesday that 98,000 Russians had arrived since Putin recalled 300,000 reservists to Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The rise has been noticed elsewhere, notably in Finland, Georgia and Mongolia, as Russian men refuse to participate in the seven-month war that has provoked fierce opposition from the West.
Mukanayeva, wrapped in a black braid topped with a bright red volunteer vest, said Kazakhs understand the plight of Russians forced to “drop everything and flee. “
The safe haven of Russian men in a Central Asian country was an investment of the same old order, with immigrants leaving their homes in places like Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan for decades to locate paintings in Moscow and other Russian regions.
“(The Russians) tell us, ‘We don’t need to kill and we don’t need to be killed. . . ‘so we, as humans, only help in any way we can,” Mukanayeva added.
Some in Kazakhstan have even hosted Russians for free, a wonder as rental costs in Kazakhstan’s neighboring regions in Russia have risen by as much as 34% this week, according to rental site Krisha.
Faced with the influx, the northwest border of the city of Oral first made its cinemas and sports halls ready to space out Russians.
But others kept coming, so the government opened a transitional shelter at a summer camp for children and on Thursday, about two hundred more people were in their colorful dormitories.
Volunteers helped register the new arrivals, a mandatory step for any Russian wishing to spend more than 30 days.
One of them Yuri Shvyn, a 39-year-old genuine real estate agent from Moscow.
Shvyn says he’s “really surprised by the reception we gained at the border. . . Everyone helps. “
Kazakhs have also created teams on the messaging app Telegram with tips on how to get cell phone cards or locate an apartment.
“We’re all very stressed, but now that we’ve crossed the border, other people are calming down a little bit,” said Shvyn, who left just after the mobilization was announced.
“But they’re all in the same state — we don’t know what will happen next,” he added.
Shvyn hesitated and said he could move on to another or stay and look for paintings in Kazakhstan “depending on the situation. “
On Tuesday, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev vowed that his country would care for and protect Russians fleeing a “desperate” situation.
According to existing rules, registered Russians can stay in Kazakhstan for 90 days on a visa.
Tatyana Keloskyna volunteered at the children’s camp to incorporate newcomers who deal with the Kazakh bureaucracy.
“Many say they don’t intend to leave Kazakhstan and need to look for a job here,” Kelosskyna said, so she and other volunteers consult them through paperwork.
“Even our citizens don’t know how to do this,” Keloskyna added with a smile.
Near the border crossing in the northern Kazakh city of Petropavl, Mikhail Kondakov proudly showed AFP his first official Kazakh documents.
After a “difficult, hard, fun and interesting” journey, the young Russian begins to locate his feet.
“We’re almost settled, we’ve already discovered a place, and the other people have been super nice,” he added with a smile.
But Kondakov’s long-term is a “big question mark” because he doesn’t know when he will return to Russia, where his friend is.