Czech Republic won't issue visas to Russian men
Rob Cameron
BBC Prague Correspondent
The Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky has said his country will not issue humanitarian visas to Russian men fleeing mobilisation orders.
Lipavsky told the Czech news server Novinky.cz that while he understood their motivations, such cases did not meet the conditions for a humanitarian visa.
The Czech Republic joins other countries such as Latvia which has said it will not provide sanctuary to Russians seeking to avoid the draft on humanitarian grounds. Germany, on the other hand, says it will do so.
The Czech Foreign Ministry has also confirmed it has written to two NHL teams to say Prague would not issue visas to Russian ice hockey players wishing to travel to the Czech capital to take part in the NHL's Global Series games.
Prague will host two matches between the San Jose Sharks and the Nashville Predators, both of which have Russian players, on 7 and 8 October.
10,000 Russians volunteer for mobilisation - report
Following Russia's announcement yesterday that thousands of extra troops will be called up to fight the war in Ukraine, a Russian military spokesman has said that around 10,000 Russians have already volunteered of their own accord on the first day of the mobilisation drive.
"About 10,000 citizens arrived at recruitment offices of their own accord without waiting for a summons," Vladimir Tsimlyansky said in comments quoted by Russian news agency Interfax.
The BBC is unable to verify the figure.
Over 1,300 protesters have been detained for protesting against the mobilisation announcement between Wednesday and today, according to the latest figures from Russian human rights NGO OVD-Info.
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