1/ More signs are emerging of preparations for a forthcoming new wave of mobilisation in Russia, including the introduction of 'exit visas' for vehicles leaving the country and the compulsory registration of university students for military service. ⬇️ 
2/ The practice of requiring people to have an exit visa to leave Russia was abandoned after the fall of the USSR. However, it's effectively being reintroduced by the back door, by a new law that has been introduced into the State Duma. It will take effect from 1 March.
3/ The proposed law requires anyone resident in Russia to pre-book the date and time for crossing the state border in a vehicle, supposedly to improve the "throughput of international automobile checkpoints."
4/ The law's author claims that it only applies to freight transport and is intended to tackle long queues on the border. However, its text does not confine the requirement to trucks, which has prompted suspicions that it's meant to be a de facto exit visa.
5/ The Russian journalist Sergei Aslanyan calls it "a noose around everyone's neck under the guise of care. There is no care, it is accounting and control." He suggests that it will be used to block people fleeing Russia overland, as hundreds of thousands did in 2022.
6/ "The [text of the law] says that the electronic queue does not limit you in any way, except when all the seats are taken. An electronic portal that is not controlled by you will always be able to show that there is no departure for the next 5 weeks."
7/ Efforts are also underway in several Russian universities to collect military registration data on students, postgraduates and teachers. Russian organisations, including universities, are required to have a 'mobilisation department' to gather and manage such data.
8/ The universities involved include the St. Petersburg University of Mechanics and Optics, the Omsk State University, and Vladimir State University. Graduate students are in theory entitled to a Certificate of Deferment of Conscription.
9/ However, many of them will finish their studies this year, and some will be expelled without completing the winter term. This will deprive them of grounds for exemption and make them prime candidates for mobilisation.
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