Ukrainians are notified that crossing the Russia-Belarus border is prohibited

Ukrainians have started to receive notifications that crossing the Russia-Belarus border by train allegedly “violates laws governing crossing the borders of the Russian Federation,” reports TV Rain, citing the Every Human Being project.

At least five Ukrainians trying to buy train tickets from Russia to Belarus received a notification which read “During border control, you will be removed from the train by border guards of the FSB of Russia.”

The message also warned that those violating the border crossing laws would be subject to administrative penalties – a fine of 2,000 to 5,000 rubles, and “administrative expulsion from the Russian Federation” for traveling from Belarus into Russia.

Members of the Every Human Being project said the situation has made Ukrainians hostages in Russia: “They can’t legally leave, and they can’t be deported because the authorities forbid it in current conditions.” 

The activists added that Ukrainians trying to leave Russia by bus were told similar things. It is unclear whether they were trying to leave Russia for Belarus, or for another country.

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According to the UN, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, more than 14 million Ukrainians fled the country. Almost 7 million have since returned. The UN says 2.8 million Ukrainian refugees went to Russia. How many remain there is unknown.

At the end of September, a day before Putin signed a decree on the “incorporation” into the Russian Federation of the self-proclaimed LNR and DNR, along with the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions of Ukraine, hundreds of Ukrainians attempted to exit Russia through Latvia and Estonia. Many of them spent several days in line at the checkpoints, sleeping outside, because the Russian side was slow to check documents and conducted “filtration” on Ukrainians.