Saturday 1 October 2022 12:00 AM Russian rapper, 27, kills himself to avoid being called up to Ukraine trends now

A Russian rapper killed himself to avoid being conscripted to fight in Vladimir Putin's barbaric war in Ukraine amid an exodus sparked by the Kremlin dictator's chaotic partial mobilisation - as thousands of Russian men, women and children flee across the border to neighbouring countries including Georgia. 

Ivan Vitalievich Petunin, who went by the stage name Walkie, is believed to have committed suicide in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar today.

His body was found near a high-rise building on Congressnaya Street after the 27-year-old musician recorded a video message published on his Telegram channel in which he said that he did not want to kill for any ideals.

Petunin, who had previously served in the Russian Army and had been treated in a mental hospital, told his fans: 'If you are watching this video, then I am no longer alive. I can't take the sin of murder on my soul and I don't want to. I am not ready to kill for any ideals'.

He also appeared to fear that Putin's partial mobilisation could soon turn into a full military draft, amid claims that Moscow is planning to call up 1million men to salvage the failing invasion. 

After his death, Petunin's published his farewell letter to her, before writing: 'Vanya went to the high-rise building where we lived in the summer, everything was confirmed.'

More than 194,000 Russian citizens have fled to neighbouring Georgia - which was invaded by Russia in 2008 - Kazakhstan and Finland since Putin announced a partial mobilisation of reservists to bolster his troops in Ukraine. In more drastic cases, Russian men have resorted to breaking limbs to avoid being called-up.

In Russia, the vast majority of men under 65 are registered as reservists. Russia's Defense Ministry has claimed it will only draft those who have combat or service experience, but according to multiple media reports and human rights advocates, men who do not fit the criteria are also being rounded up.

The official decree on mobilisation, signed by Putin last week, is concise and vague, fuelling fears of a broader draft.

In an apparent effort to calm the population, Putin told Russia's Security Council on Thursday that mistakes had been made in the mobilisation. He said that Russian men mistakenly called up for service should be sent back home, and that only reservists with proper training and specialties should be summoned to serve.

'It's necessary to deal with each such case independently, but if there is a mistake, I repeat, it must be fixed. It's necessary to bring back those who were drafted without proper reason,' the tyrant stressed.

The mass exodus of Russian men - alone or with their families or friends - began September 21, shortly after Putin's address to the nation, and continued all this week. Airline tickets to destinations abroad have sold out days in advance, even at unprecedentedly high prices.

Long lines of cars formed on roads leading to Russia's borders. Russian authorities tried to stem the outflow by turning back some men at the borders, citing mobilization laws, or setting up draft offices at border checkpoints.

The bus stations in Samara and Tolyatti, two large Russian cities in the Samara region, on Thursday halted service to Uralsk, a border city in Kazakhstan.

Russian authorities are opening more military enlistment offices near Russia's borders in an apparent effort to intercept some of the Russian men of fighting age who are trying to flee the country by land to avoid getting called up to fight in Ukraine.

A new draft office opened at the Ozinki checkpoint in the Saratov region on Russia's border with Kazakhstan, regional officials said Thursday. Another enlistment center was set to open at a crossing in the Astrakhan region, also on the border with Kazakhstan.

Earlier this week, makeshift Russian draft offices were set up near the Verkhny Lars border crossing into Georgia in southern Russia and near the Torfyanka checkpoint on Russia's border with Finland. Russian officials said they would hand call-up notices to all eligible men who were trying to leave the country.

Finland's border with Russia has been closed to Russians with tourist visas, cutting off one of the last easily accessible routes to Europe.

Long queues were reported until midnight at the border crossings. Among the last to enter Finland were two cyclists who arrived a little before 11pm, Finnish broadcaster YLE reported from Vaalimaa, one of the main border crossings between the Nordic country and Russia.

It came as the European Union's top migration official urged the bloc's 27 nations to clamp down on issuing visas to Russian citizens.

Finland has the longest border with Russia of all European Union member countries.

With the exception of the one border crossing between Russia and Norway, Finland had provided the last easily accessible land route to Europe for Russian holders of European Schengen Zone visas.

The Finnish government justified its decision by saying that continued arrivals of Russian tourists in Finland is endangering the country's international relations, and cited security concerns related to Russia's war in Ukraine, the 'illegal' referendums arranged by Russia in parts of Ukraine, and recent sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia under the Baltic Sea.

Russian citizens can still enter Finland for family reasons, study or work. Political dissidents may also seek to enter for humanitarian purposes.

As of September 1, Finland slashed the number of visas - including for tourism purposes - issued to Russian citizens to a 10th of the typical number, in a show of solidarity with Ukraine.

Earlier this week, Finnish border guards said they want a fence along the border, 'due to the changing security environment' in the Nordic country. Such a fence requires the approval of the Finnish parliament.

The fence would not run the entire 830-mile the border, but should be in 'riskier areas, such as border crossings and their nearby areas', the border guards said.

Norway said on Friday it was considering imposing an entry ban for Russians with Schengen visas. The Scandinavian country has a border in the Arctic with Russia which is 123 miles long. The sole crossing point is at Storskog.

'We will close the border quickly if necessary, and changes can come at short notice,' justice minister Emilie Enger Mehl said.

EU migration commissioner Ylva Johansson said Russia's annexing of four Ukrainian regions is 'clearly an escalation and that means also an escalation of the security threat towards the European Union'.

She urged EU countries to enforce more stringent checks on Russian citizens and deny documents to anyone who might pose a threat.

Ms Johansson said EU authorities must stop short-term visa holders from Russia from renewing them in Europe. 'If a Russian person intends to stay longer than 90 days in the EU, he or she should not be issued a visa,' she told reporters.

She also said Russians who have fled the country should not be allowed to apply for visas abroad.

'They have to do that from their home country, Russia,' she said, but underlined that they should be allowed in for humanitarian reasons, or other exceptional circumstances.

Ms Johansson also urged countries to reassess whether already valid visas should have been issued. She said that none of the measures the European Commission is recommending would stop Russian citizens from applying for asylum in Europe.

'The right to have a short-term visa into the EU is not a fundamental right. It's privilege. The right to apply for asylum is a fundamental right,' she said.

It comes as an increasingly unhinged Putin ludicrously boasted 'victory will be ours' seven months into his squalid invasion of Ukraine after the Russian tyrant illegally annexed four territories from Kyiv in the biggest military land grab since the Second World War.

The warmonger told thousands of flag-waving Russians gathered outside the gates of the Kremlin for a celebratory concert in Moscow's Red Square that people in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions had chosen to rejoin their 'historic motherland' - after his regime staged fake referendums there and rigged the outcomes at gunpoint.

Flanked by the leaders of their Russian-backed administrations as the multi-coloured spires of the 16th century St Basil's Cathedral loomed in the background, Putin vowed that Moscow would do everything to support the newly annexed regions, boost their security and rebuild their economies.

He then proclaimed: 'Welcome home!', before prompting chants of 'Russia! Russia!' from the enormous crowd gathered in the vast square.

Huge video screens showed Putin leading the spectators in three cheers of 'Hurrah' for the annexed territories, followed by a rendition of the national anthem. Many in the crowd of thousands waved Russian flags as entertainers from across Russia and occupied parts of Ukraine performed patriotic songs. Russian media reports  said that employees of state-run companies and institutions were told to attend, and that students were allowed to skip classes,

It comes after a desperate and erratic Putin snarled that the four occupied Ukrainian regions would remain part of Russia 'forever' for 40 minutes during an official ceremony where he seized the territories - before launching into a rant about Western 'Satanism' and colonialism.

At his signing ceremony in the Kremlin's ornate St George's Hall, Putin accused the West of fueling the hostilities as part of what he called a plan to turn Russia into a 'colony' and a 'crowd of soulless slaves.' The hardening of his position, in the conflict that has killed and wounded tens of thousands of people, further raised tensions already at levels unseen since the Cold War.

In his unhinged address, Putin insisted that Ukraine must treat the Kremlin-managed votes 'with respect' - before accusing the US and its allies of seeking to destroy Russia. His speech was littered with bizarre references ranging from Britain's Opium Wars in China in the 19th century to gender reassignment - before ominously threatening to use nuclear weapons in the event of an attack on Russia, including the four newly annexed Ukrainian territories.

Moscow has backed eastern Ukraine's separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions since declaring independence in 2014, weeks after the annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Russia captured the southern Kherson region and part of neighboring Zaporizhzhia soon after Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24 this year.

Both houses of the Duma, Russia's puppet parliament, will meet next week to rubber-stamp the treaties for the regions to join Russia.

Putin's land grab and a partial troop mobilisation were attempts to avoid more battlefield defeats that could threaten his 22-year rule. By formalising Russia's gains, he seemingly hopes to scare Ukraine and its Western backers with an increasingly escalatory conflict unless they back down - which they show no signs of doing.

Russia controls most of the Luhansk and Kherson regions, about 60% of the Donetsk region and a large chunk of the Zaporizhzhia region, where it seized Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

Western countries responded with an avalanche of condemnation, more punishment for Russia and aid for Ukraine. The US announced sanctions for more than 1,000 people

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