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Ukraine toughens border crossing rules for Russians in border areas

Russian citizens will be able to cross the Ukrainian-Russian state border only through interstate and international checkpoints and will have to show their passports

© ITAR -TASS/Dmitry Rogulin

KIEV, February 19. /TASS/. Ukraine’s State Border Service is planning to tighten border crossing rules for Russian citizens living in border areas, the press service said on Thursday.

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The service states that Russian citizens will be able to cross the Ukrainian-Russian state border only through interstate and international checkpoints and will have to show their passports.

The Russian citizens’ stay on Ukraine’s territory will be limited to 90 days within 180 days since the date of their first entry to the country. Russians who arrived in Ukraine before March 1 will be able to leave based on documents that they had shown.

Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers announced in early February that starting March 1, Russian citizens will be required to carry passports to cross into Ukraine rather than their internal documents.

The citizens of border areas of Russia and Ukraine earlier took advantage of simplified border crossing rules and could visit the border areas of the neighboring country through local checkpoints.

In particular, the simplified border crossing rules applied to the citizens of Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk and Rostov regions and the Krasnodar Territory.

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