Airline prices from Russia to Armenia soar as Putin announces partial mobilization

By Mark Dovich

Airline tickets from Russia to Armenia, among a number of other destinations, quickly sold out for the coming days, while prices surged many times over, according to social media posts, following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement Wednesday of a “partial mobilization.”

Russian citizens are permitted to stay in Armenia for up to 180 days without an international passport. Russian citizens can also enter Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan without an international passport, but they cannot stay in those countries as long as they can stay in Armenia, according to information compiled by Meduza, an independent, Russian-language news site.

Armenia has emerged as one of the main destination countries for Russians choosing to relocate after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February.