On Wednesday, direct flights were in high demand as Russian President Vladimir V. Putin stepped up his military campaign in Ukraine. The cheapest airfare from Moscow to Dubai cost over 300,000 roubles ($5,000), which is five times the typical monthly salary.
No direct flights from Moscow to Dubai on Wednesday, and passengers would have to opt for a connecting flights via Azerbaijan or Georgia. The same was true for Thursday and Friday, with the only available flights requiring long connection times. The only direct flights appeared to be available from November 14.
Putin announced a new campaign on Wednesday that would immediately call up 300,000 reservists to the military, directly challenging the West as it supports Ukraine.
“Nuclear blackmail has also been used,” Putin said, citing Ukraine’s Zaporozhzhia nuclear power plant, according to Reuters.
The announcement, which was made in an early-morning television address, raised fears citing that men of fighting age would be prohibited from leaving the country.
Putin said, in his rare videotaped address to the nation, that the West has “crossed all lines” and the move is “necessary and urgent” as Russia’s goals in Ukraine had not changed.
Putin accused the United States and Europe of engaging in nuclear blackmail against his country and warned that Russia had “lots of weapons” of its own, according to a report by the New York Times.
“To those who allow themselves such statements about Russia, I want to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction, and some components are more modern than those of the NATO countries,” he said.
Putin also accused Washington, London, Brussels of pushing Kyiv to “transfer military operations to our territory.”
This is not a bluff, he added, adding that “if the territorial integrity of our nation is jeopardised, we will unquestionably employ all available means to safeguard Russia and our people.”
