What happened today in brief — 21 September

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a partial mobilisation in Russia. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that in total, 300,000 servicemen in reserve will be drafted. This number will include “those who have already served, who have a military occupational specialty that is currently required in the Armed Forces and those who have combat experience”.

Russia’s official death toll in the Ukraine War has risen to 5,937, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu stated. The last time the Russian Defence Ministry announced the death toll in the war with Ukraine on 25 March. Back then, the ministry stated that 1,351 servicemen had been killed and 3,825 had been injured.

Russians have bought out the tickets for all the flights to visa-free states departing from Moscow on 21 September, RBC newspaper reported, citing the data provided by airlines and flight aggregator websites. The prices for plane tickets to Baku, Yerevan, and Istanbul for the next several days have soared following the mobilisation announcement.

Latvia will not issue humanitarian visas to Russian nationals evading mobilisation, the country’s foreign minister Edgars Rinkēvičs stated. This decision was made for security reasons, he explained. Border restrictions for Russian nationals entering Latvia, as well as border restrictions for Russian citizens with Schengen visas, will remain in place.

The Supreme Court of Crimea has sentenced Nariman Celâl, deputy chairman of the governing assembly (the Majlis) of the Crimean Tatar people, to 17 years behind bars for “sabotage”. Crimean Tatar brothers Asan and Aziz Akhmetov were sentenced to 15 and 13 years in prison respectively.