Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
With one bag in each hand and another on his back, Denis makes his way up a hill on foot, having just crossed the border from Russia into Georgia.
"I'm just tired. That's the only thing I feel," the 27-year-old says as he tries to catch his breath.
Denis has just spent six days on the road, most of them just waiting in line to cross the border. He is one of the hundreds of thousands of Russians enduring a grueling marathon journey to leave their country.
Though women and children are among those crossing, most are fighting-age men who fear the possibility that they will be drafted to fight the Kremlin's war in Ukraine. According to the Georgian Interior Ministry, at least 10,000 have been coming through the Lars border crossing daily.
Denis, who did not want to reveal his last name, said he chose to leave because of the uncertainty following Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement last week of a "partial mobilization" of citizens -- despite his earlier emphasis that the military assault would only be fought by military professionals. Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu said the military will conscript around 300,000 men with previous military experience, to go and fight in Ukraine.
Though the current draft should not apply to him, Denis fears that could change.
"How do I know what will happen in three years' time? How do I know how long this will take?" he said.
"It is uncertain, and nobody knows what's coming next."
His feeling is shared by many crossing the border into Georgia. They are teachers, doctors, taxi drivers, lawyers and builders -- ordinary Russians who have no appetite for war. And although they say they don't agree with the government, they believe there's nothing they can do to force Putin to change course.
They've chosen instead to leave their homeland, despite the perilous journey. Denis said he spent days in his car without sufficient access to food and restrooms.
"When you're there waiting, there is no toilet. You can't get much to eat because everything is instantly sold out and nobody packed much food either because nobody expected it to take this long," he said.
Another man CNN spoke to walked for 20 kilometers (12 miles) to get to Georgia, also fueled by concern that the draft might expand.
"It doesn't apply to me today, but it may apply tomorrow," the individual said, speaking to CNN on the condition that he remain anonymous, because he fears Moscow's far-reaching hand.
And George Vatsadze, a 28-year-old marketing professional, says he is leaving Russia because he doesn't want to hurt his loved ones. He has a Ukrainian grandmother and cousins who live in the country.
"I can't go there to fight," he said.
Vatsadze crossed with his brother, who was eligible for the draft. He brought only a bag with a few clothes and his dog. He says it was the only thing he could do.
Tired and emotional, he's happy he's made it to Georgia, but frustrated that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has forced him to leave home.
"I think maybe about half of our population think the war is wrong, but they can't stand up against it because it's dangerous," he says. "Right now, just by saying this, I am putting myself at risk."
He didn't want to leave, but now he thinks he may never be able to go back.
"It's all because we can't trust our government anymore, because they told us a lot of lies," he says. "We had heard there would not be any mobilization at all, but six months later we're here."
"What will be going on another six months?" he asks, struggling to hold back tears.
"I don't know, and I don't want to find out."
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Police are investigating after a BMW exploded in the St-Lambert Exo train station parking lot on Montreal's South Shore.
A group of lawyers has written what they call a groundbreaking book about how mental health is perceived in the legal profession.
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.