When Prime Time last spoke to 28-year-old Russian man Niki Proshin, he was carefully deciding his next move.
He had two choices: Stay in St Petersburg and potentially be drafted into the army further down the line. Or, alternatively, flee to another country and lose all his friends, his girlfriend, his home, and start from scratch. It wasn't an easy decision.
Fast forward to today and his life has been turned upside down.
For one thing, when he recorded his interview with Prime Time this week, it was from Istanbul.
He has secured a short-term rental in the Turkish capital while he contemplates his next move.
"It is a temporary move to Istanbul – but it is not a temporary move out of Russia," Mr Proshin said.
"I'm not going to be back to Russia before everything is over."
Mr Proshin had been documenting life in Russia on social media before and after the invasion of Ukraine.
Even as several of his contemporaries fled the country, he opted to stay in St Petersburg at the outset of the war in February.
But, after observing a rally in St Petersburg on 21 September in protest of the partial mobilisation of some 300,000 Russians into the army, he reconsidered his position.
This time, he said, things felt different.
Though he has not yet been drafted, he couldn't be sure whether or not in the coming weeks the net for army recruits would be cast wider.
While the mobilisation is nominally of people with military experience, reports suggest that service records, health and even age have been disregarded as part of the process.
Mr Proshin has also spoken openly on social media platforms like YouTube about politics and how Russians feel about the so-called "special military operation".
In recent weeks, he had been receiving a large number of messages from subscribers urging him to leave before it was too late.
"I might be safe next week, I might be safe even next month, and nothing will happen to me," he said. "But what's going to be next?"
On the morning of 22 September, he made the decision to flee Russia.
He needed to book two flights to get out of Russia and the prices were astronomically expensive in the wake of the partial mobilisation order.
"I took a flight from St Petersburg to Moscow to Istanbul that cost me exactly $1,500 by that day's exchange rate, which is quite expensive for Russians," he said.
"So I only had two full days to basically finish my life in Russia and leave. I was very sad to say goodbye to my girlfriend. But, soon, in the near future, I hope we will be together again."
Since Vladimir Putin ordered the partial mobilisation in a televised address to the nation on 21 September, thousands of Russian men have tried to flee the country to avoid being conscripted.
Initially, it led to queues forming at the border with Georgia. Satellite images in late September showed a 10-mile-long car tailback near a Georgian border checkpoint.
Other border crossings with Finland, Kazakhstan and Mongolia also saw an influx of Russians, but the numbers fleeing their homeland have dropped in recent days.
Mr Proshin is aware of men who have tried to leave Russia and have been turned away at land borders and at airports because they are deemed eligible for military service. Some fear they may have no choice but to go to Ukraine to fight.
"I literally have a friend who works for a governmental institution, basically for Russian railway roads, and a few days ago he shared that he might get drafted for the recent mobilisation," he said.
"He doesn't have any idea what to do or how to avoid it. The only option he has in his head is to blindly accept his fate."
Last week, President Putin formally announced the annexation of seized Ukrainian territory at a ceremony in Moscow's Red Square.
Four regions – Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk –were claimed after pro-Russian officials declared victory in a referendum on the annexation of these areas to Russia. The vote was widely discredited by Western countries as a sham.
The referendum has also been viewed as a move to legitimise Russia's war in Ukraine, which has now entered its ninth month.
In Turkey, those who have fled in recent days are relieved. But they also fear for the future of their country.
Mr Proshin said he would be more lonely in Istanbul were it not for the influx of Russians to the city.
"Every single time I go outside, I hear Russian speech here and there – especially if I go to the tourist areas of the city," he said.
He's also in regular contact with his mother and girlfriend through video calls and messages.
But just when he will be able to return home to Russia and see them in person is anyone's guess.
"I feel sad for Russia. I feel sad to see all the things that are happening over there," he said.
"I just hope that it will be over soon, that we will be back to peaceful times."
