Spokesman Peskov denies Kremlin plans to close Russian borders

The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the press that the administration has no plans for closing the Russian borders to people who want to leave the country.

Questions about potential border closures came in connection with a draft bill, recently introduced by the State Duma deputy Evgeny Moskvichev.

If passed, the new law might require people trying to leave Russia by car to book their time slot for crossing the border in advance, on a “first come, first serve” basis. This is, at least, how the media understood the draft legislation when first publicizing it, which stirred up a great deal of anxiety among Russians. Later, the bill’s principal proponent Evgeny Moskvichev explained that the advance booking requirement would only apply to commercial trucks.

“The text itself contains clarifications,” said Peskov about the bill. “I think we can judge on that basis.”

According to Moskvichev, the bill is designed to ease traffic congestion at checkpoints like Verkhny Lars on the Georgian border. The new booking system is expected to start working on March 1, 2023.