“Redirect migration flows”: why Kiev intends to prohibit Ukrainians from entering the Russian Federation with an internal passport

The use of passports by Ukrainian citizens to travel to Russia “will guarantee” the rapid provision of consular assistance if necessary, said the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Vadim Pristayko.

“The digital database with biometric passports is a quick and effective help tool from our consuls,” he wrote on Twitter.

Visa for a passport with the right to pass may not allow others to enter the Russian Federation to the bourgeoisie on the basis of the fact that they violated the Ukrainian law. Vіdteper prikordonniki shvidsha and without pereshkodim denounce the picture about those who want our country and zim.

In addition, the introduction of the rule of departure to the Russian Federation for passports, rather than national ones, will prevent the debtors from alimony and those who violate Ukrainian laws from fleeing to Russia, the minister said.

“From now on, border guards will quickly and without interference get a complete picture of who is leaving our state and with what,” the minister added.

Recall that from March 1, 2020, Ukrainian citizens were informed about the intention to ban Ukrainian citizens from traveling to Russia with internal passports and birth certificates on December 5. This was reported to the media by the director of the consular service department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Sergey Pogoreltsev. According to the diplomat, the Cabinet of Ministers prepared a draft resolution on the suspension of the provisions of agreements with Russia regarding the mutual order of entry - according to the current rules, for this it is enough to present an internal passport or birth certificate for children under 16 years of age.

• Vadim Priestayko.
• Twitter
• © vprystaiko

Recall that, according to the legislation of Ukraine, citizens of the country must use a passport to travel abroad. In cases provided for by international treaties of Ukraine, other documents may be used instead of a passport for traveling abroad.

In particular, a special procedure for departure and entry operates between Ukraine and Russia. It was enshrined in an agreement between the governments of Ukraine and the Russian Federation on the conditions for visa-free travel of citizens of January 16, 1997, as well as an agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Russian government on the procedure for crossing the state border by residents of border regions of the two countries of October 18, 2011.

Pogoreltsev explained that the need to introduce new rules on the border with Russia arose due to an increase in cases of falsification of internal passports and birth certificates in Ukraine. In addition, neither the internal passport nor the birth certificate contains information in Latin letters, which makes it difficult to check for restrictions imposed by the Ukrainian competent authorities or Interpol regarding a person traveling abroad.

“Thirdly, the passport of a citizen of Ukraine in the form of a booklet has a low degree of protection and can be used with a modified photo when crossing the border by third parties who have committed or may commit unlawful actions that threaten state security and public order,” the Ukrainian diplomat explained, adding, that the existing simplified procedure for trips to Russia “in the conditions of the last armed aggression” does not meet the interests of national security of Ukraine.

On December 18, this initiative was approved by the Government of Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian Cabinet, Oleksiy Goncharuk, announced this.

“The time taken to pass the border control of each citizen is reduced - to verify the person’s data, passport information is read by special devices,” Goncharuk wrote in his Telegram channel.

Border screening

It is worth noting that restrictions for Russian citizens were introduced by the Ukrainian authorities at the beginning of 2015. By decision of the Ukrainian government, the Russians lost the opportunity to visit a neighboring country with internal passports. Then Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who headed the government of Ukraine, also motivated the decision of the Cabinet by the fact that the measure was adopted in the interests of national security of the state.

In addition, during the period of martial law in Ukraine, entry for all male Russian citizens aged 16 to 60 years was closed.

Recall that the decree on the introduction of martial law in Ukraine was signed by Petro Poroshenko in November 2018, the reason for this decision was the incident in the Kerch Strait.

• Alexander Turchinov
• RIA News
• © Nikolay Lazarenko

In June 2019, the ban on the entry of Russian male citizens into Ukraine was lifted, the press secretary of the State Border Service of the country Oleg Slobodyan told reporters. However, the regime of enhanced control on the border with Russia remains, the Ukrainian official added.

At the same time, there was talk in Ukraine about the need to tighten the rules for Ukrainian citizens leaving for Russia. So, in the fall of 2017, the SBU initiated a public discussion of the bill, which implies a ban on travel to Russia for Ukrainian officials and public figures. The authors of the bill proposed to introduce criminal liability for officials for "visiting the Russian Federation with the aim of harming the national interests of Ukraine."

This idea was picked up in the Rada - in October, people's deputies Andriy Nemirovsky, Andriy Shinkovich and Andriy Denisenko registered the bill “On introducing a temporary restriction on the right of citizens of Ukraine to leave Ukraine to the aggressor state”.

The restrictions proposed by the deputies should not concern all citizens, but only civil servants. The punishment for violating the ban should have been dismissal and a fine.

This idea was supported by Alexander Turchinov, who then held the post of Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

“You know, when a country is recognized as an aggressor, only scouts and spies can go there. So or not? If he is a scout, we will find a way to transport him there, if he is a spy, then, I think, there is nothing to do when he performs some direct functions. Unfortunately, the “fifth column” is actively working for us, which works to destabilize the situation in the country. It is financed by the Russian special services, ”Turchinov said on the air of 112 Ukraine TV channel.

However, the measures proposed by the SBU and deputies to ban travel to Russia for Ukrainian public persons have not been taken.

Recall that in early 2015, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a statement in which Russia is called the "aggressor country." According to the Ukrainian authorities, Russia intervened in the internal affairs of Ukraine and took a direct part in the Donbass conflict. However, Kiev did not provide evidence in favor of this version.

“Just excuses”

However, tensions between the two countries do not prevent ordinary Ukrainians from traveling to Russia to work in large numbers. As calculated in the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry in 2018, in total about 3 million “zarobitchan” are working in Russia. In addition, many Ukrainians in Russia have relatives and friends.

In total, in 2018, 9.1 million Ukrainian citizens visited Russia, 7.8 million of them came on a private visit, about 600 thousand for a business purpose, such statistics were previously provided by RT at the FSB border service. In the first half of 2019, 3.9 million people entered Russia from Ukraine with different goals, the Association of Tour Operators reports, citing data from the FSB border service.

• RIA News
• © Alexander Polegenko

This situation does not suit the Ukrainian authorities who want to reduce the intensity of trips of Ukrainians to Russia, experts say. At the same time, the leadership of Ukraine does not take into account the interests of ordinary citizens, political analyst Anna Aryamova noted in an interview with RT.

“The decision to abolish entry into the Russian Federation by internal passports will harm only Ukrainian citizens, will lead to unnecessary costs for ordinary people. This is another meaningless step of the Ukrainian leadership, a demonstration of hatred of Russia, ”explained Aryamova.

According to the expert, Kiev should not be afraid that criminal criminals will be hiding in Russia while maintaining the former order of departure, as an extradition agreement exists between the countries and Kiev can count on extradition of offenders.

A similar point of view is shared by the expert of the Council for Interethnic Relations under the President of the Russian Federation Bogdan Bezpalko. As the expert noted in a commentary on RT, the arguments of Ukrainian officials that the new rules will help stop criminals and debtors from leaving the country have no reason, since an internal passport also allows you to identify a citizen, as well as a foreign one.

“The reasons listed by the Ukrainian authorities for introducing a new procedure for leaving for Russia are just excuses. In fact, it seems that Kiev simply wants to redirect migration flows, redirect them from the Russian direction to Poland and other countries. But this innovation will negatively affect the lives of ordinary people, and the administration of Vladimir Zelensky now simply continues the undertakings laid down even under Petro Poroshenko, ”the expert summed up.