Russians Search For Jewish Roots To Avoid Fighting In Ukraine: Report

At a Red Cross centre in Moscow, a dark-haired woman nervously holds a phone to her ear, trying to dig out details on her Jewish roots to help her son flee President Vladimir Putin's drive to mobilise...

At a Red Cross center in Moscow, a black-haired woman nervously holds the phone to her ear, trying to explore details about her Jewish roots to help her son escape President Vladimir Putin's campaign to mobilize troops to fight in Ukraine.

“Mom, your grandfather Moish was born in 1870, like Lenin, right?” She asks.

"Obtaining an Israeli passport is the only way my son does not go to fight in Ukraine," the exhausted woman, who declined to give her name for security reasons, told AFP.

Tens of thousands of Russians have fled since Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February and then announced a nationwide military recall in September.

Many were quick to find their Jewish roots to open the doors to Israel.

One of them is 32-year-old Ivan Mitrofanov, frantically searching for evidence that his grandparents were Jews.

As an IT worker, he has so far been relieved of the first wave of mobilization announced on September 21 after a series of Russian military defeats in Ukraine.

But Mitrofanov says he is "in a hurry to leave as long as the borders are open".

Most Russians expect more waves of mobilization and some fear that the authorities will impose martial law or close the borders for men of military age.

Sam's passport

Mitrofanov believes that Israel is a better option over Europe.

“My Russian passport is poisonous in Europe.

"I will go to Israel where we really want," he said.

This new wave of immigration to Israel is so great that the bureaucrats in Moscow are getting tired.

"90 percent of our clients come to look for their Jewish origins," said Tatiana Klazenkova, who works in a municipal administration office in western Moscow.

The authorities criticized the Russians' rush to leave the country, describing them as unpatriotic and that Kalazenkova was not impressed.

"They want to leave Russia ... to Israel, where the war never ends," she said sarcastically.

Over a million of Israel's 9.4 million people have roots in the former Soviet Union.

Israel says immigration requests from Russia and Ukraine have tripled since the conflict began.

Its Central Statistical Office counted 20,000 arrivals from Russia and more than 12,000 from Ukraine since the end of February.

Faced with a torrent of departures, Russia in July ordered the Jewish Agency to be dissolved,

Which helps Jews to emigrate, accusing them of violating the law.

Several Russian celebrities - including Russian pop queen Alla Pugacheva and her comedian husband Maxim Galkin - have left.

to Israel.

The announcement of chaotic and often haphazard mobilization led to a new mass exodus,

With tens of thousands of people flocking to the borders of Georgia and Kazakhstan for weeks.

Indicating the number of those choosing Israel, five new private agencies have opened to help Russians emigrate.

Others turn to genealogists to help them find any trace of Jewish roots.

Vladimir Paley, a specialist in Jewish genealogy,

He said he had received "ten times more requests" from both Russians and Ukrainians since the start of the conflict.

"By mobilizing, I am responding primarily to the calls of mothers who are looking to expatriate their sons," said the 55-year-old.

Fear and disgust

There have been many waves of immigration to Israel from Russia and the former Soviet Union

.

This is "out of fear and disgust," said Mikhail, a 40-year-old client of Bali.

History teacher and author Mikhail never thought of leaving. Putin's mobilization changed that as he wants to emigrate with his wife and child.

But leaving - often a decision is made within hours - also caused families to break up

.

Andrei Trubetskoy, a 58-year-old former Russian Interior Ministry official, said he understood in February that he "no longer wanted to have anything to do" with his country.

He and his historian wife searched the archives only to discover by chance details of his great-grandfather who was a Hasidic Jew.

The couple were preparing their file and began to learn Hebrew.

But at the last moment his wife refused and the couple divorced. Now he plans to leave alone.

“Often the decision to leave is hasty,” said Lyubov Borosyak, a sociologist at Moscow Free University.

It has surveyed 150 families who have chosen to leave since February.

"Their goal is not to move to another country, but to leave Russia," she said. "It's the exodus of panic and fear."

BY
ProBuzzFeed