Foreign media reported that as many as 700,000 people may have fled Russia to avoid mobilization orders, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did not think the figures should be taken seriously.

(AFP file photo)

[Central News Agency] Media previously reported that since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization order to recruit hundreds of thousands of people to fight in Ukraine, 700,000 Russians have fled the country.

A Kremlin spokesman refuted.

“Reuters” reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a news conference that he did not have exact figures on how many Russians have left the country since Putin announced the partial mobilization order on September 21. .

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Asked by media reports that as many as 700,000 people may have fled Russia, Peskov said: "I don't think these numbers should be taken seriously."

"I don't have exact figures, but of course the number is much higher than ours."

Hundreds of thousands of Russians, mostly men of military age, have fled Russia to avoid being called up to fight in Ukraine.

Countries such as Kazakhstan, Georgia and Mongolia, which border Russia, all reported that the number of Russians entering the country increased after Putin issued a mobilization order.

Putin's mobilization order has become the most unpopular move by Moscow authorities since the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Russia has claimed that the war it launched in Ukraine in February was a special military operation.