The war mobilization announced by Vladimir Putin has worsened the situation on the Russian-Georgian border to such an extent that the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), which is responsible for border control, sent Monday an armored personnel carrier there to prevent a forceful breach of the border at Larsi by the crowd – a large part of which are young men unwilling to be drafted.

Eyewitnesses from the scene say that the military has set up a check-point, which FSB denies.

“The APC is not moving there to set up a checkpoint, it is, roughly speaking, a reserve just in case the coscripts want to break through the border and leave the country without completing any formalities,” FSB in the Republic of Northern Ossetia-Alania stated Monday.

It added the border checkpoint was operating normally, and there were no restrictions for men of military age.

However, there are swarms of reports from various sources on Telegram, a social network popular in Russia, that many men leaving Russia for Georgia receive travel ban notices.

According to eyewitnesses, the soldiers at the border control have conscripts’ personal database. Each man who has received a summons or who falls under the criteria for partial mobilization is being turned back home.

Currently, about 3.5 thousand cars are being stuck on the Russian side of the border. Their chain reaches several kilometers.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, Russian citizens started to leave the country. One of their destinations is Georgia, because they do not need a visa to enter here and they can stay in the country for one year. This process was especially intensified after the announcement of “partial mobilization” by Vladimir Putin last week.