Rail border between the Ukraine and Russia remains open
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Despite the intervention in parts of Crimea, Ukraine by forces connected to Russia in the past few days, the rail border between the countries remains open today. Neither Ukrzaliznytsia, the Ukrainian national railway, nor Russian Railways have any announcements on their website regarding any changes in service.
According to Ukrainian Independent Information Agency, people entering the Ukraine from Russia are receiving extra scrutiny at at the border. At platform checkpoints for passport control, "additional steps are being organized in relation to regional transport police to deal the possibility of localization of possible conflicts." ((uk))Ukrainian language: На перонах залізничних станцій, в межах пунктів пропуску (контролю) встановлюються додаткові режимні заходи, організовано взаємодію з лінійним відділом міліції на транспорті щодо можливості локалізації вірогідних конфліктних ситуацій. If the guards suspect people are entering for the purpose of destabilizing the country, the police reserve the right to deny them entry to the country.
The Baltic News Agency ((ru))Russian language: Балтийское информационное агентство reports that Russians traveling via train between the two countries have been turned away at the border including a man traveling from Yekaterinburg to Simferopol, a Russian Naval Infantry reservist ((ru))Russian language: офицером запаса морской пехоты РФ.
The 2014 Winter Paralympics are scheduled to start Friday in Sochi, Russia and some attendees, including Wikinews reporters, are scheduled to arrive at the Games via trains between Russia and the Ukraine.
Related news
- "International Paralympic Committee comments on Russian adherance to Olympic Truce" — Wikinews, March 3, 2014
- "Canada has no plans to boycott Winter Paralympics" — Wikinews, March 3, 2014
Sources
- "Newsroom" — Ukrzaliznytsia, March 4, 2014 (access date)
- "News" — Russian Railways, March 4, 2014 (access date)
- "Україна посилила контроль на кордоні з Росією" — Ukrainian Independent Information Agency, March 4, 2014 (Ukrainian)
- "Україна посилила контроль на кордонах із Росією" — gromtv.net, March 4, 2014 (Ukrainian)
- "Госпогранслужба Украины усилила контроль на границе с Россией" — BaltInfo, March 3, 2014 (Russian)