Control On Belarusian-Russian Border Unexpectedly Abolished

Why is that?

On the Belarusian-Russian border, the control that was introduced in May of this year was suddenly canceled. This is told by chat participants who monitor the situation on this section of the border. According to them, even on Monday they had to go through control at checkpoints, but since Tuesday evening, those entering Belarus have not been checked.

The Zerkalo journalists figured out the details.

On the evening of July 18, messages appeared in the chat “Border of the Russian Federation-Republic of Belarus” that border checkpoints had disappeared from the side of Belarus. The exact time when they were removed is not known. Chat participants report that on Monday, July 17, they were, and already on Tuesday evening they disappeared.

— On Monday (July 17 — edit.) everything was as usual in the morning, — one of the users clarified in the chat. — And at night I was driving from Smolensk, it was absolutely empty.

Those who crossed the Russian-Belarusian border along the M1 highway near the village of Krasnaya Gorka and the village of Rudnya (both located in the Smolensk region of Russia) also speak of the lack of control.

Also, there is no additional control near the agro-town of Liady (Dubrouna district) and near the village of Azaiaryshcha (Haradok district).

— On July 18, at about 9 pm, when traveling from Moscow to Minsk in a passenger car, in Krasnaya Gorka they only briefly looked at the passports on the Russian side, then nothing, — another chat participant writes. — No screening, we didn’t have to get out of the car. Everything is as before May, only a rather large line of trucks in the right lanes.

On the hotline of the State Border Committee, where our journalist called as an ordinary Belarusian, they said that the control had really been lifted.

— Tell me, please, people in the border chat write that the border control has been abolished if you go from Russia to Belarus. Is this true, no more control?

— I can't tell you if it will or won't. To date, it has been lifted. And tomorrow, maybe they will impose it again.

— Why did you suddenly decide to abolish it?

— Everything depends on the order of the government of the Republic of Belarus. When there is an order — we will somehow decide what to do. We do not make our own decisions. We have a president, a government, and they make decisions.

— Tell me, have you lifted border control on all routes? We need to figure out the best way to go.

— You can go anywhere. There were never queues on our side, there were always queues on the Russian side.

— Does it mean that the border control was lifted everywhere?

— You can go.

Early in May, Belarus introduced a kind of border control at all entrances from Russia. The State Border Committee then said that this was a temporary measure related to the process of ratifying the agreement on mutual recognition of visas with Russia. And the Foreign Ministry called it “not controlling, but monitoring the situation”. Already in the first days, queues began to accumulate at the border. At the end of May, Russia ratified the said agreement, but control remained.