Russians search for Jewish roots to flee draft

[Behind the Aegis]

At a Red Cross centre in Moscow, a dark-haired woman nervously holds a phone to her ear, trying to dig out details on her Jewish roots to help her son flee President Vladimir Putin's drive to mobilise troops to fight in Ukraine.

"Mum, your grandfather Moishe was born in 1870, like Lenin, right?" she asks.

"Getting an Israeli passport is the only way for my son not to go to fight in Ukraine," the exhausted woman, who declined to give her name for security reasons, explained to AFP.

Tens of thousands of Russians have fled since Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February and then announced a nationwide military call-up in September.

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Faced with an avalanche of departures, Russia in July ordered the dissolution of the Jewish Agency, which helps Jews emigrate, accusing it of breaking the law.

more...

Of course, NOW some are looking to be "Jews'.

[Tetrachloride]

1. If I may take a guess, the people in the story

are low end in cash and that the Agency might help pay for the departure from Moscow ?

I am aware of a person who did get of Russia tho the route was not exactly common. And this person was probably middle class.

end of my 2 cents