Stuck in Russia, the French face the puzzle of restrictions

• On Monday, February 28, Russia announced that it would restrict the flights of airlines from 36 countries in response to the closure of the airspace of many states to Russian planes.

• The day before, France recommended to its nationals passing through Russia to "leave without delay" the country because of "increasing restrictions on air traffic between Russia and Europe".

• Despite the establishment of a dedicated telephone line by the Quai d'Orsay to support French citizens who are currently in Russia, the return sometimes turns into a headache.

Every day, Russia closes in on itself a little more.

On Sunday, a few days after the start of Vladimir Putin's military offensive against Ukraine, several states including France recommended that their nationals "leave without delay" the country.

In question, the air restrictions decreed by the European Union.

The next day, in response to these suspensions, Russia for its part announced that it would close its airspace to companies from 36 countries.

Faced with the cascading cancellations of flights planned towards France, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published Monday a “non-exhaustive list of indirect connections allowing to return” to France.

On the other hand, specifies the Quai d'Orsay, "passengers whose tickets have been canceled because of the restrictions must first contact their airline".

Passing through Russia to see relatives, on vacation or on a business trip, several readers of 

testify to the headache caused by this crisis situation and confide the anguish of not being able to return.

A feeling of abandonment

At 38, Rémy is one of those anxious travellers.

“We are a group of French people who left for Irkutsk to visit Lake Baikal,” he wrote to

.

“I am very afraid of not being able to return to France.

I know a little bit of the Russian language, just to get by.

For the moment I still have money but I'm also afraid that our credit cards will no longer go through,” he continues.

The tour operator with which the 30-year-old left does not support the transport component.

And the airline with which he was originally supposed to return to France, Aeroflot, is, he says, “very complicated to contact”.

“With one of my friends, we will try to go through Istanbul via the city of Krasnodar in Russia,” he hopes.

Despite the establishment of a dedicated telephone line by the Quai d'Orsay (+7 495 937 14 91) to respond to the concerns of tourists, visitors, students, professionals on mission present in Russia, Rémy feels "abandoned" by the French authorities.

A feeling shared by Olivier.

This 62-year-old pharmacist regrets the lack of information for French people who are in Russia: “The emergency numbers do not answer or do not work and the consulate cannot be reached.

We have had no news from the airline that canceled the flight, nor from our repatriation insurance.

But I managed to find a flight to Turkey via Azerbaijan and then back to Brussels, for my wife in Moscow”.

An epic comeback

Jean-Luc, a 56-year-old teacher, was luckier.

“I am currently in Moscow with my wife, who is of Russian origin.

Normally, I should return to France on Sunday evening with an Air France flight which has not yet been canceled”.

But like his fellow citizens, he believes that “neither the French embassy in Moscow nor the company gives us useful information”.

For others, the return trip felt like a

ordeal .

Nicolas, 34, is currently in Saint Petersburg.

Came to visit his Russian girlfriend, his return flight was scheduled for Monday but was canceled by KLM.

“I explored various solutions, the simplest seemed to be the train to Helsinki, but the latter is reserved for Russians and Finns.

Foreigners do not have access to it.

I fell back on the bus.

I

managed to book a trip for Thursday morning, it remains to be seen if the trip will go smoothly, ”he explains to 

Cross the border on foot

For security, the young man still wanted to contact the French consulate.

“It was confirmed to me that the bus was one of the only two solutions to leave.

The other was to join the Estonian border by taxi, and cross the border on foot through a wide no man's land,” he smiles.

But the conflict, like diplomatic relations, is changing every day, which particularly worries Nicolas: "I still have 24 hours to wait, but if Finland suddenly decided to close its border, it would clearly be a source of additional stress".

Until the last moment, Scheherazade had the same fear.

This Savoyard married to a Russian saw her return ticket to Geneva canceled by Aeroflot.

“We were informed on Sunday evening and we decided to go directly to Moscow airport overnight to find another ticket.

But those who left the same day were at exorbitant prices”.

Finally, the couple was able to fly Tuesday morning to Istanbul before joining Lyon.

"Until the last moment, we were afraid that Turkey would close its airspace in turn, but fortunately that was not the case," she breathes.

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