Ukraine Russia war latest: Putin’s partial mobilisation sparks exodus

Google Trends data shows a surge in searches for Russia’s most popular airline ticket buying site. Emily Atkinson’s report:

Germany’s Poilce has raided properties linked to Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, a former shareholder of Arsenal Football Club who is also linked to Everton.

Munich state prosecutors said a comprehensive search of the homes of a Russian citizen and four other suspects was carried out. Media reports said other properties belonging to Usmanov were searched across Germany.

Authorities searched 24 properties in four states, including Bavaria, and 250 police officers were involved in the operation, prosecutors said.

German broadcasters BR and MDR reported that one of the target locations was Usmanov’s villa in the southern state of Tegensee.

Ukraine is beginning demining 12,000 square kilometers (4,633 square miles) of territory it has retaken from Russian-held eastern Kharkiv, an emergency services official said.

Roman Prymush also said in the briefing that it could take years to demining the area, which is larger than the state of Qatar, and that the US, UK and Canada will help with the work.

Airfare prices from Moscow have soared as people rush to leave the country under the new partial mobilization order.

independent Reviewed the ticketing options on Aviasales wesbite and found that a cheap flight to Yerevan from 11am will cost travelers over 82,000 rubles (£1,200), compared to 8900 rubles (£130) for the same ticket at the stadium yesterday .

The cheapest flight to Istanbul – a nine-hour trip with a stopover in Antalya – weighs in at 100,600 rubles (equivalent to almost £1,500).

Some stopover routes, including from Moscow to Tbilisi, are also unavailable, while the cheapest flight from the capital to Dubai costs more than 300,000 rubles ($5,000).

One-way tickets from Russia sold out quickly after President Vladimir Putin ordered the mobilization of some of Moscow’s reserves to dramatically escalate the war against Ukraine.

The announcement raised concerns that some fighting-age men would be barred from leaving the country.

Google Trends data shows a surge in searches for Aviasales, Russia’s most popular flight ticket buying site.

Direct flights from Moscow to Istanbul, Turkey and Yerevan, Armenia, both destinations that allow visa-free entry for Russians, were sold out on Wednesday, website data showed.

Russia’s long-standing fears about Ukraine continued to spread as Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” against Ukraine in the early hours of February 24, with the Russian leader’s unfounded declaration of the need for “demilitarization and de-Nazification. The “alter” neighbors have been fighting in Donbass for eight years.

What are the key questions behind the conflict, where does it all start and how will the crisis develop? Joe Summerrad and Thomas Kingsley Report:

Commenting on the partial mobilization order announced by President Vladimir Putin, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Russia will try to destroy Ukraine and change its borders.

“We will do what we can with our allies so that NATO is more supportive of Ukraine so that it can defend itself,” Morawiecki said, urging Western allies to do more for Kyiv.

On the fringes of NATO’s eastern flank, which borders Russia, the people of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia have watched the situation in Ukraine nervously, and leaders have called for international support.

Beltru Reports from Vilnius and the “Suwalki Gap”: