Citizens of Ukraine can now enter the Russian Federation only through Sheremetyevo

On Monday night, Latvia closed two checkpoints on the border with Russia – Vientuli and Pededze. One of them has been designated by the Russian government since October 16 as the only possible land entry point for citizens of Ukraine.

Now Ukrainians can enter Russia only through Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport. The Russian government issued an order on this, calling this order of entry temporary. The second point through which citizens of Ukraine could enter from October 16 was Vientuli (from the Russian side – the Ludonka checkpoint in the Pskov region).

Latvian public radio previously reported that an average of 500 people with Ukrainian citizenship entered Russia via the Baltic countries and Finland per day. Now this is impossible.

According to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Latvia Ryhard Kozlovskis, concrete barriers were installed at the Vientula and Pededze border crossings. According to the minister, the Russian border guards have been working very slowly in recent days, which, in his opinion, proves that if the Vientula crossing continued to work, a large number of people would quickly gather on the Latvian side of the border.

The decision to close these checkpoints was made by the Cabinet of Ministers of Latvia at an extraordinary meeting on October 12, after considering a proposal urgently prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It stated that the measure should respond to the country’s “encroachment on independence, territorial integrity, and democratic structure.”

There are now only two border crossings between Russia and Latvia – on the Russian side, the checkpoints are Terekhovo and Grebnevo. After the start of the invasion of Ukraine, the entry of Russian citizens into Latvia is severely restricted.

Citizens of Ukraine should theoretically be released from Russia without restrictions. The only crossing point for them on the Russian-Ukrainian border is Kolotilovka-Pokrovka. From the Ukrainian side, it is impossible to cross into Russia through it.