Top Propagandist for Putin Spotted Fleeing Russia Into Georgia

Mikhail Lazutin, a top propagandist for Russian President Vladimir Putin, was spotted on Thursday near Russia's border with Georgia, as men continue to flee an ordered partial mobilization.

Footage that appeared to show the pro-Kremlin blogger standing in line at a traffic jam at the border checkpoint in Verkhnii Lars on the Russian-Georgian border, was published on multiple Telegram channels.

Lazutin founded the "Lev Against" movement in 2014. The group, which urges citizens not to drink alcohol, smoke, or use foul language in public places, has received presidential grants worth 12.2 million rubles ($213,566), according to Russian media.

Newsweek has been unable to independently verify when or where the footage was filmed and has contacted the Russian and Georgian foreign ministries for comment.

Traffic built up at the Russian-Georgian border the morning after Putin announced a partial mobilization on September 21.

It comes amid mass exodus of Russians from the country, after defense officials said that as many as 300,000 reservists would be called up to fight in Ukraine.

Analysis by Bloomberg suggests that since Putin's declaration, at least 200,000 people have already left Russia for neighboring nations.

Georgia saw a nearly 10-mile build-up of vehicles on Tuesday, according to Maxar Technologies, a U.S. company that created satellite imagery of the traffic line.

A Newsweek search on Yandex Maps on September 22 showed a build-up of vehicles near Russia's southern border, suggesting people are fleeing in response to the decree that reservists will be called up to fight in Ukraine.

A Verkhnii Lars group on Telegram, set up for travelers who want to cross the border at the Russia-Georgia checkpoint, has also grown by some 100,000 members in about a week.

Multiple Telegram accounts have also reported that other prominent Russian bloggers have left the country, including Gusein Gasanov, a blogger from Russia of Azerbaijani origin Hussein Hasanov, and video blogger Nikolay Sobolev.

Gasanov reportedly told his followers on Wednesday that he was going "for a couple of days to his father, and back home."

And earlier, Russian blogger Yury Khovansky said he had left for Serbia.

The British Ministry of Defense said on Thursday that there has been a considerable exodus of Russians seeking to evade call-up and assessed that the number of people who have already escaped from mobilization in Russia likely exceeds the total number of those who were used for the war against Ukraine when it began in February.

Meanwhile, Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, said on Thursday that Russians on the military register aren't allowed to leave the place where they live or go abroad without the permission of a military commissariat, according to Gazeta.ru.