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Russia and Belarus belong to the Customs Union, and their borders are punctured: if they want to enter Russia without being noticed, it is not difficult to do so.
For some Russians, such travel seems to be highly relevant now, since Alexander Lukashenko, unlike the Russian government, has stubbornly refused to impose restrictions on the social and economic life associated with the coronavirus outbreak.
In contrast, although the number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Belarus, which borders EU members Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, is already over 50,000, Lukashenko just laughs and people offer to drink vodka or go to the sauna.
AFP / Scanpix photo / Russian-Belarus border
The result is that dozens of car and minibus drivers are now offering to transport those interested from Russia to Belarus for a flat fee. From there, it is already possible to travel wherever you want.
Several drivers who declined to appear, of course, admitted to Reuters that they regularly spend the day with passengers who have no right to leave Russia.
“About 70-80 km before Belarus, we turned into rural roads to avoid border guards,” said one man, adding that it takes 10-12 hours from Moscow to Minsk. Such a trip costs 10,000. rubles (128 euros).
Another driver, Andrei, claimed that hundreds of Russians had already left Belarus: “Many people write to us that they successfully passed the checks and flew away.”
Belarusian airline Belavia still offers flights to several European cities, including major cities in Germany and France. Of course, many wealthy Russians have villas on the southern coast of the latter country.
Reuters / Photo by Scanpix / Minsk International Airport
Russia’s border guard did not respond to Reuters’ request to comment on the situation, and Belarus told the news agency that it did not even attempt to control the border with Russia.
True, Russia’s federal security service previously announced that since April it has caught more than 250 people trying to cross the border into Belarus illegally. For these people, as well as for their drivers, 2,000. rubles (25 euros).
A Russian, with whom Reuters spoke, said he was constantly going to a neighboring country in this way, which does not seem abnormal to him: “It is perfectly normal. Good road, and then you are in Belarus.”
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