Rules for entry into Russia for citizens of Belarus 2021
A few days ago, Belarus and Russia restored regular railway services. I haven’t traveled this route myself, but my travel blogging past played a role... My hand trembled... Damn it... And in the end, I still looked for information on this matter. I talked with the Russian Embassy, contacted the ticket office at the railway station, and now I’m ready to share with you the most up-to-date information on this matter.
Below I will briefly tell you all the most important and interesting things. And you MUST subscribe to my Instagram. There we discuss the latest news and share the most current information from the world of travel. Still, the situation is changing very quickly today.
How to get from Belarus to Russia now?
There are several options here. Things are easiest with planes and trains. But with buses and personal transport, everything is still quite complicated. get to Russia by car or bus only if you have “reasons”. Usually this is a residence permit, work, study, as well as visiting close relatives (father, mother, children and spouses).
At the time of publication of the article, a bus from Minsk to Moscow costs from 49 BYN (one way fare). You can view the schedule and buy tickets on the website ticketbus.by
Getting to Russia by train or plane is much easier. However, there is one catch here too. In all cases , when crossing the Russian border, you will be required to have a negative PCR test done 72 hours before travel. You can present it either in paper form or through an application with the romantic name “Travel without COVID-19.” You can download it for free on the AppStore and Google Play.
At the moment, only one laboratory is available in the application where you can do the test (at Kazinets, 50). However, in fact the list of available places is much wider. For detailed information on how you can do a PCR test for traveling abroad in Minsk and other cities of Belarus, read the article below.
Where in Minsk and Belarus can I take a PCR test for traveling abroad?
Cost of train and plane tickets
At the time of publication of the post, planes from Minsk fly to 4 Russian cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Rostov-on-Don. Trains run to Moscow and Kaliningrad. The cost of flights (Minsk-Moscow) fluctuates around 210-280 BYN for a two-way flight. You can buy plane tickets here. If you are not committed to a specific departure date, I recommend searching for cheap tickets through the Low Price Calendar.
As for trains , until recently it was almost impossible to buy tickets here. They were sold out very quickly, so free dates appeared only a month in advance. However, now the situation has changed. At the beginning of April, the so-called “Swallows” began traveling to Minsk. And from that moment on, the train became almost the best option for traveling to Moscow.
You can view the schedule and buy tickets on the website poezd.rw.by. A seat in a seated carriage now costs 50 BYN. Travel time is just under 7 hours. But now I don’t want to go into this topic too much. You can read more about all travel options to Moscow in the article below. I discussed all the pros and cons there in great detail.
How to get from Minsk to Moscow in 2021?
How to save money when traveling back to Belarus?
If entry into Russia is associated with some restrictions, then returning back to Minsk is much easier. Here you can choose almost any type of transport for your trip. The cheapest way is to go by bus. You can buy tickets and view the flight schedule from the Russian Federation to Minsk here.
Minsk-St. Petersburg: 5 best ways to get from one city to another
Renting a home and buying insurance
Although having an insurance policy is not a requirement to enter Russia, I would still recommend that you take all necessary precautions. During my travels, I personally always buy insurance here. This is a Russian platform where many reliable companies from the Russian Federation, Europe and the USA are gathered. Here you can immediately see how one insurance differs from another and choose the best option in terms of price/quality ratio. I repeat once again: BE CAREFUL WHEN CHOOSING INSURANCE. Otherwise, at the designated time of the ICS, it will turn out that your policy from some “BelGosDorStrakh” is just a useless piece of paper. This is important not only during a pandemic.
I recommend searching for apartments and hotels in Russia on the Trivago website. It has an ugly design, but it is here that you can often find accommodation cheaper than on Booking.com. The thing is that the same number often costs differently on two different booking sites. Trivago compares prices across dozens of hotel sites and then tells you where a specific room is cheapest.
The most interesting places in Moscow that tourists should visit
Other Important Notes
Citizens of third countries cannot enter the Russian Federation through Belarus. But Russians only need a PCR test to enter the Republic of Belarus. For more accurate information on this matter, see Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus No. 705.
As for Belarusians, when returning to their homeland from Russia, they are exempt from the need to take a PCR test and undergo self-isolation. , I still recommend checking the information on the State Border Committee website gpk.gov.by.
Getting vaccinated also does not exempt you from the need to provide a PCR test. Maybe over time the situation will change. But that's it for now. Sputnik V will allow you to travel around Georgia and Serbia without any problems, but in Russia itself the drug is not yet considered a sufficient reason for entry.
Russian Embassy phone number .
If you have any other questions, call +375 (17) 2224985. This is the consular section of the Russian Embassy. And with these words I will say goodbye. Subscribe to my Instagram and don't get sick.
Will Belarus fit into the Russian Federation?
A series of meetings between Putin and Lukashenko at the end of last year and an acute “hydrocarbon” conflict between Minsk and Moscow at the beginning of this year, mutual suspicions and grievances, intrigues and information leaks - all this creates a background in society for discussing the possible merger of Belarus and Russia into one state . Some even interpret it as a “reunification” of unjustly separated fraternal peoples. The leadership of the Russian Federation probably views the incorporation of Belarus as one of the likely scenarios, given that in the neighboring republic there are actually quite a lot of people who want such a unification. But “many” does not mean “most”. One can understand the Kremlin’s fears of losing another post-Soviet country to the West and losing a strategic bridgehead on the borders with Europe. But an attempt to annex a neighbor may well turn into a serious crisis and disappointment. Alexander Lukashenko really managed to “burn out” the political space in the country, and opposition rallies after 2010 never attracted more than a few hundred people. But if Belarusians do not come out to protest against their “eternal president,” this does not mean at all that they will meekly agree to become part of Russia. Moreover, according to many experts, a serious explosion of protests can be expected.
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On the other hand, there are no problems in Belarus (like in Latvia or Ukraine) that could make local Russians want to “return to Russia.” Rather, on the contrary: some Russians, upon retirement, move to a neighboring republic - living there is cheaper, more comfortable and safer at Belarusian prices. At the same time, Belarusians themselves, unlike Russians, do not feel like antagonists to Europe: Belarus is the world leader in percentage coverage with Schengen visas, about 50% of citizens have visited EU countries, more than 15% travel regularly, 138 thousand Belarusians (more than 2% of adults population) received a residence permit in the countries of the European Union only in 2021, 157 thousand are holders of “Pole cards”, which make it easy to emigrate. People understand that if they join the Russian Federation, they will lose all this. It is unlikely that they will be ready to agree with this for the sake of knowing that “Crimea is ours!” If the matter is limited to a confederation of two countries, in which Belarusians will retain their current rights and opportunities, then this will be a real mine under Russian society. The high degree of autonomy of the Belarusian lands will raise the question of real federalization of the rest of the Russian Federation.
“On the one hand, given the situation in the Belarusian economy, it will play approximately the same role as a part of Russia as a cobblestone on a swimmer’s neck. Belarus will simply “drown” the Russian Federation, says Olga Karach, head of the civil campaign “Our Home” from Vitebsk. — In addition, do not forget that the legislation of Belarus is more stringent and repressive in terms of freedoms and human rights. For Belarusians, the unification of legislation with Russian legislation will lead to liberalization, including political freedoms. Well, what happens to the class when instead of a tough, controlling teacher comes a softer and more liberal one, everyone who taught at school knows.”
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According to Olga Karach, the number of protests for any reason and hidden sabotage on the part of officials will automatically increase. And with the unification of the legislation of the two countries in favor of the Belarusian unrest, unrest will begin in the Russian Federation: Russian society will howl because of restrictions and prohibitions.
Also, according to her, 28 years of Belarus’ independence have not passed without a trace: a whole class has grown up - officials, for whom joining the Russian Federation is the most unfavorable scenario. They are already accustomed to being “the first guys in the village.” “Therefore, Belarus, of course, can become part of the Russian Federation, but how comfortable Russia will be with this and whether it will get ‘indigestion’ is a big question,” sums up Karach.
“Belarus has always been mentally different from Russia. This can be traced at the level of folklore. Belarusian proverb: “If you work until you sweat, you will eat your fill.” And the Russian one: “Work is not a wolf; it won’t run away into the forest.” Let us remember the Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, this is an example of law, legality and democracy. And it is in this spirit—of the law—that many generations of Belarusians were brought up,” Alena Anisim, a member of the House of Representatives (the lower house of the Belarusian parliament) of the 6th convocation, tells Rosbalt. — Unfortunately, in Soviet times (not to mention the imperial period) this spirit was destroyed through repression, terror, and war. But Belarusians do not have an aggressive spirit; Christian sentiments, faith in God, along with a respectful attitude towards nature are strong here. Even in Soviet times, few Belarusians considered Russia their homeland. Belarusians, unlike Russians, have never sought to teach other nations how to live.”
According to Belarusian political scientist Sergei Martselev, Belarusians are characterized by multiculturalism and tolerance, but their country does not have such an abundance of visitors from Central Asia and the North Caucasus. For many citizens, a serious argument against incorporation into the Russian Federation would be that people of a foreign culture are imposing their standards of behavior on the indigenous population. He reminds that Russia itself does not cope well with immigrants from Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan, who often appear in criminal chronicles.
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“Another topic: conscription into the general Armed Forces among Belarusians would steadily strive to be zero, remembering the specifics of hazing in Russia on a national basis. And it’s one thing to serve near Brest with fellow countrymen, and another thing to serve in the Stavropol Territory or near Rostov,” says Martselev. — Plus, the Russian leadership is involved in at least several armed conflicts outside the country’s borders. Why die for other people's interests? This is what the average Belarusian will think, even if in words they are loyal to their eastern neighbor.”
Finally, according to the expert, our peoples have different attitudes towards “hygiene”, both mental and communal (“Belarusians always have a painted fence”). There are simply no such hate shows as on Russian TV in Belarus. Belarusians are calm, patient and fit better mentally into the European context than into the Russian one.
According to him, there are enough supporters of unification with the Russian Federation in the security forces, but over the years of independence, a solid layer of patriotic officers has also formed in Belarus. In the event of annexation of Belarusian territories, Russia will receive a number of internal threats, ranging from sabotage by command staff to sabotage. Moreover, these military, police and security officers will not necessarily be pro-Western, but since “you came to our land,” then don’t be offended.
“In general, the “average” Belarusian can speak Russian and even watch Russian propaganda. But he is a farmer by way of thinking. He doesn’t tolerate strangers well, who from guests and neighbors feel like masters,” sums up Sergei Martselev.
But there is no end in sight to the conflict between Minsk and Moscow. Belarus stubbornly does not buy Russian oil, hoping to live for the second month on a meager trickle of supplies from Gutseriev’s companies and expensive oil supplies from foreign countries. Meanwhile, Belaruskali still cannot conclude a contract with the Chinese - the budget is rapidly losing income. There is a gold reserve, but how long will it last in such a situation? And it is not intended to compensate for chronic losses. April is the deadline for drastic decisions and high-profile events in Belarus if agreements with Russia are not reached. And it is possible that this year Belarusians will actually have to choose the future fate of their state. Mikhail Petrovsky
Ukraine
Citizens of Ukraine cannot yet enter Russia without a reason. However, they can come if they have close Russian relatives: spouses, children, parents. In this case, they will need documents confirming the relationship: a child’s birth certificate, a marriage certificate, copies of passports of children / parents / spouses.
There are currently no trains between the two countries, and there are no flights either (since 2015), so you can come to Russia either by bus or by your own car. As a last resort, cross the border on foot. Currently there are 6 checkpoints between the countries.
