Ukraine Russia border crossing??!!
 

My Russian visa starts on the 28th of this month, has anyone crossed recently or know of any problems. Pointless watching the news as they only hype it all up. I'm heading for Volgograd using the easiest crossing.
At the moment I'm on my last day in Poland and will be heading toward Slovakia later, my route will then be via Hungary Romania Moldova Ukraine Russia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan and into China.


Anyone else in eastern Europe? :-)

sent from my thingy, using whatchamacallit

Nick,

We just crossed today: Kiev to Kursk via a small border crossing. No need to worry about the ongoing problems in Ukraine if you go this route. :D

Below is an entry I just posted in my own blog (Bermuda Rover)

We have now crossed into Russia from Ukraine, so a new leg of the journey has begun. We are aware that other overlanders plan to follow us through Ukraine in the coming weeks and they have questions regarding the Ukraine-Russia crossing. Hopefully this entry will be of some use to them.

As our Land Rover contains a variety of camping gear, we are particularly conscious about trying to find accommodation with secure parking. We were able to find a couple of suitable hotels while in Ukraine.

In Lviv, we stayed at the Hotel Natalia-18 at 7 Prince Yaroslav Osmomysyl Square - Готель "Наталія-18" Львів. Whilst the hotel doesn't have an enclosed parking area, it has private spaces on the pavement/sidewalk outside the hotel. The parking spots are monitored by CCTV in the hotel reception. The rooms are small but clean and tidy with modern bathrooms. It is a short walk from the main square, so is well located.

In Kiev, we stayed at the Hotel Rus Accord - City hotel, accommodation in Kiev, cheap hotels in Ukraine — HotelRus. This is a modern high rise hotel with a large car-park that is controlled by security 24 hours a day. The hotel is within walking distance to the centre of Kiev. There are restaurants inside the hotel. Despite the good quality of the hotel, it can be booked online for between 40-50 Euros (the hotel cannot match the online prices).

Due to the ongoing issues in the eastern Ukraine cities, we decided to cross into Russia without passing through those eastern cities. We opted for the small border crossing that is located between Kiev and Kursk (Russia). The nearest Ukrainian town to the border post is Hlukhiv. You take the E101 towards Hluhkiv and then the E38 towards Kursk. On the route that we took, the GPS (sat-nav) took us down some very poor quality roads that seemed too narrow and bad to lead to an international border crossing - but they did! The coordinates for the Russian side of the border crossing are N51.64779 E034.14358.

En-route to the border, we passed two Ukraine military checkpoints where they had set up a chicane on the road to slow down traffic, but no checks were taking place.

At the border, there were some small huts in which the insurance agencies were plying their trade. Only two of the huts appeared to be open when we were there. We secured Russian vehicle insurance from one of them. We enter Russia three times during the trip, over a period of about three months. As the dates of entry and exit are flexible, we decided to buy a full three months of insurance to ensure that we will be covered, even though we'll be paying for periods when we are not in the country. For a Land Rover Defender (2,495cc engine), three months of the basic OSAGO third party insurance cost just over 5,000 rubbles (approx 120 Euros). We asked about the comprehensive and collision insurance (CASCO) but it seems that isn't available at the border and would have to be purchased either before the trip or online. So, for now, we have the most basic of vehicle insurance whilst in Russia.

Once we had the insurance, we moved on to the Ukraine side of the border post. There were three stages to the Ukraine side. First, the armed sentry wanted to see our passports and have a cursory look inside the vehicle. Once happy, he allowed us to proceed a few feet through a barrier, where we had to stop. Second, before we could proceed to passport control, we had to go into a small vehicle office where the vehicle documents were examined. We could see the officer pull up the vehicle details on the computer, from when we entered Ukraine from Poland. Once he was happy with the documents, he told us to go to the passport control. Passport control was the third step. They wanted to inspect the passports and the vehicle documents, despite the fact they'd all been checked already. Once the passports were cleared, the vehicle was then checked further, with an armed officer asking us to open each door so that he could search and examine a variety of items. Once he was satisfied, we were given a piece of paper to take to the sentry at the exit from the Ukraine side of the border. Once again, this officer needed to check our passports before allowing us to proceed. Finally, we were able to move from the Ukraine side of the border to the Russian side.

At the Russian side, there were no vehicles ahead of us. This is a small border post that seems to have very little traffic, meaning no queues. When we reached the first checkpoint, an official did a cursory inspection of the vehicle and then asked us to wait for 10 minutes, as the passport control kiosk was empty (staff on break?). When the lady returned to the kiosk, we were able to get our passports processed. This took about 10-15 minutes. Then we were told we could move forward to the Customs checkpoint, which is where the fun began. A Defender loaded up with gear must have looked suspicious to her, so she decided she wanted to see pretty much everything in the vehicle. The back door was opened and almost everything pulled out and opened for her inspection. Then the side doors - same thing. Once satisfied that we were not importing goods, or in possession of illegal items, she returned to her kiosk and began processing passports and customs declaration forms with Klaus, whilst I packed everything back into the vehicle. By the time I'd packed the vehicle, Klaus' passport had been checked and stamped - but mine would take longer as she also had to check the vehicle registration papers ('vehicle passport'). This was bureaucracy at its finest and took ages. Meanwhile, a queue of vehicles had built up behind us, waiting for us to clear the way. After a lengthy delay, she finally cleared us, gave me my passport and documents and we were free to enter Russia! All told, I'd estimate that it took two hours between arriving at the border and leaving the other side.

We had completed our Russia Customs Declarations ahead of time, using the English language version of the form from the Russian Federation Customs website. This probably helped, as there were no signs of English forms at the kiosk. A tip for others making this trip - do not tick 'yes' in section 2.1 of the form, which asks if you have accompanying baggage, and how many pieces. I had ticked yes, as I had luggage, but this section apparently refers to importation of goods to Russia. The customs officer told me that it should say no, and she then re-wrote my whole form to make the correction.

Once through the border, we made our way to the city of Kursk for an overnight stop. We began to look for a hotel with secure parking, using the Garmin Monterra to identify hotels in the vicinity. Our first stop was the Hotel Kursk that received a good report in the Lonely Planet book which said the staff speak English - they don't and the receptionist refused to entertain us, claiming that the hotel was full! The hotel has a car-park but good luck getting into there hotel! We went to about three or four more hotels, none of which had a car-park. We decided to check one more hotel, after which we would leave the city and wild-camp for the night. The final hotel came up trumps! The Hotel Diane has a gated car-park next to the hotel in which we were allowed to park the Defender. The hotel room is of a reasonable size with a modern bathroom.The prices in Kursk are more expensive than in Ukraine, however. One night in the Diane costs the equivalent of about 90 Euros. The coordinates for Hotel Diana in Kursk are N51.75620 E036.17943.

There was no evidence of any military presence on the Russian side of the border. The current disturbances in Ukraine do not seem to have had any impact on border crossings between Ukraine and Russia, at least at the crossing that we used.

I see no reason for any overlanders to change their plans to avoid crossing into Russia from Ukraine.

The next challenge that we face involves requirements to register our stay in different Russian towns/cities as we move east. We are trying to clarify how often we are required to register.

Stays in hotels are likely to be less frequent as we cross Russia and camping will be more frequent. This will limit our access to wifi, so blog updates may become more infrequent. Whenever we can access wifi, I'll try to post updates.

We're getting conflicting information on how often we are supposed to register our stay whilst in Russia. I'd appreciate any advice from those who have gone before us.

We are hoping to have our stay registered by the hotel whilst we are here in Kursk (first day of entry). After that, I doubt that we will be in any own/city for a period of three days. Does this mean we don't have to re-register.

We could probably re-register whenever we stay in hotels but I expect we'll be doing some wild camping along the way and don't expect to be registering on those dates.

Thanks,

Good tips, thank you. My bike is registered in Germany and my insurance green card covers me in Russia. I only have to get insurance for KAZ and KYG. where did you manage to download the customs form, if I could get that done beforehand it may save me an hour, I was expecting to have that hurdle at the border. I'll take your advice and Ind a smaller crossing point, I'll be crossing further south from yourselves and heading then to Volgograd. I have it in my head that you have to three days to register your stay, obviously the earlier the better. I've heard most hotels don't want western travellers due to the paperwork involved, that and the fact they have to declare the visitor and the payment has to go through the books. I've used booking.com and pre-booked my stay in Volgograd, just have to hope they have secure parking :-)

sent from my thingy, using whatchamacallit

For the English version of the customs declaration, go to the following site - Federal Customs Service of Russia - Passenger customs declaration
On that page you'll see links to the English form and also to directions on how to complete it.

You have seven working days in which to register your stay, in the first instance. The hotel we stayed at last night is declining to register us, saying it only applies to persons staying at least three nights. This is not correct, but what can you do?

We may have to find a larger, international hotel during the first week to get registered.

We've also read that you have to re-register if you move to another city for a period of three days or more. We'll be moving through lots of towns and cities but won't stay in any of them for three days. We'll probably try to get re-registered at any hotels we stay in along the way, but the exact requirements for persons moving across the country are unclear.

I was planning to drive straight across Ukraine and enter Russia from a small border east of Luhansk. I have friends in Kharkiv and Donetsk, but if the situation will be as it is now, I think I'll have to re-route.

Good to know that the Hlukhiv - Kursk border is open, it seems that Chernihiv and Sumy Regions are not (yet?) affected.

Worth noting that there is a three-way border between UA, BY and RU north of Chernihiv which is (according to the Russian Government) open to foreigners. It leads to the far west of Bryansk Region (not far from a Chernobyl fallout area!), which would be the westernmost UA - RU crossing, were things to deteriorate further in Eastern Ukraine.

D

Last year i entered this small border east of Luhansk, fast and friendly no problems.

Insurance shop in huts just about 1km up the road, also if you are nice the 2 pretty women who work there will let you use there computer to check emails and make you a cup of coffee:innocent:

Nick:

I've never entered Russia on a motorcycle, but I have entered the country (for transit purposes) about a dozen times during the past 2 years whilst flying large commercial aircraft that I am delivering from the factory to the customer.

My experience with the Russian customs and immigration people (primarily in the east of the country - Anadyr, Magadan, Petropavlovsk, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok) has been that they are very courteous and very honest, but also very, very detail-oriented. In other words, they are fine people who have no intention of giving anyone a hard time, but you had better be sure that 100% of your documentation is in order, because they cannot cut you any slack at all if there is even the tiniest deficiency in the documentation or process.

The Russian border guards have a very sophisticated electronic system for registering passports, visas, etc. The nature of this system is that the 'approval' is granted by a central computer somewhere after the border guards have scanned the passport and visa - the officer himself has no discretion in the matter.

I don't know what the deal on carnets is. A carnet is not needed to move a large commercial aircraft through the country, but at the point of entry, I was always given a document - sort of what you could call a Laissez-Passer for the aircraft itself - that I had to surrender at the port where I exited Russia. The border officials at the port of entry always stressed to me that it was extremely important that I not lose this document, and that I made sure to surrender it at the port of exit. Likewise, whenever I filed a flight plan to depart from Russia, the border guards at the exit point always asked for this document, and would not let me start the aircraft up until they had entered everything into the computer and received an approval from the central document processing facility.

So, to sum up: Very courteous people, but extremely thorough, and they are not granted any room for discretionary judgement when enforcing the rules.

Michael

Thanks Michael, I believe I have everything less the customs form which I will try and printed for me in the morning, or the next hotel.

sent from my thingy, using whatchamacallit

Hi,
Bermuda Rover-thanks for useful news. It's hard to find anything on the topic.

I'm going to go around the Black Sea in August/September and want to cross the Cremean Peninsula which has been anected by Russia recently. Anyone knows maybe how it looks like there? I guess it can be different as this border is kind of "new" and not sure if recognised by Ukrainian authorities.

Any information will be appreciated!

Fred

I was in Crimea 2 weeks ago and its all very normal there ... apart from prices currently being given in two currencies, and many/most ATMs / banks closed or not working. I expect that will all be sorted by the summer season.

I doubt there is a functional border crossing yet north of Armyansk. There obviously cant be a border post there before the Ukrainians accept that there is now a border there.

My advice is to register once within 7 days of each entry to Russia. That should suffice for a foreign traveller in a short term visa. If you have a registration slip obtained since your last entry stamp to Russia then you should be fine regarding registration.

Im having a "moment". I was sure i updated my progress. On the eastern side of Ukrainien towns they have military checkpoints checking all traffic coming from the east. I had no problems at all. I stayed overnight in luhansk and got to the border early with no hassle or fuss.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

Good Info
 

Hi NearlyHomelessNick,

We are in Varna Bulgaria at the moment but come Monday or Tuesday we will be heading north first into Romania then Moldova across Ukraine to Kiev and then up to the Russian border area to start our trip to Mongolia and beyond any info would be much appreciated.

Kind regard

Dave & Les

Interesting to hear, I was planning on staying north in Luhansk Region and exiting to Russia around Millerovo... Good to hear you passed through Luhansk itself without problems.

Out of interest, could you tell me which border you crossed? Was it the one from Krasnodon (UA) to Donetsk (RU, not the one in Ukraine)??

Thanks

Daniel

Thanks, It's good to hear that. I just thought that in case there's no borders established yet it will be probably safer to double check the dates for Russian visa and be sure its valid regardless of where (which side) I'll be.

Many thanks, that helps a lot!

There is a functioning border going in. A (Ukrainian) friend just posted this:

Entering by train, but I guess by road will be the same.

I imagine that going the other way, you would not get a Ukrainian entry stamp, but there must be some kind of official presence at the 'border'...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...79743006_n.jpg

We asked for, and got, registrations from two hotels that we stayed at during the first week. We haven't asked for any since, but two additional hotels have provided registration forms as part of their service. So we now have four which should keep the officials happy.

We're also keeping the receipts from the various hotels so that we can prove where we stayed, should it become an issue (which I doubt).

Visa Type?
 

First, sorry to see your other post on your crash in China.

I'm applying from USA for a Russian Visa and the rest of my group (Europeans) used a "AUTO TOURISM" Voucher for an "AUTO TOURIST" Visa.

The Embassy won't accept the Voucher from that particular company used by our group so I have a new one but it's plain old TOURIST (not AUTO Tourist). If you don't mind checking, which type visa did you have and if it's a plain old Tourist VISA did you have any issues showing up with a vehicle? Are you German National?

Thanks and get well!

I've just locked my passport away in the station safe. I can check tomorrow but please remind me. I'm suscribed to this thread so I'll get a mail reminder.
Im British and used a london based visa agency "real russia" the russian visa was no problem entry and exit was hassle free. Friendly and helpfull but 100%

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

Thanks Nick!

I decided not to enter Luhansk Oblast at present, just didn't seem worth the risk.

I crossed into Russia at an obscure border: Velika Pysarevka (UA) / Grayvoron (RU).

The road on the Ukrainian side is so utterly appalling that there is almost no traffic; I was pretty much the only one there. Both sides were friendly and relaxed, though I got a lot of attention from the Ukrainian guards (mostly out of boredom I imagine).

The main border between Kharkiv and Belgorod is also working, I should really have used that one.

Daniel

Nick, friendly reminder to check your Russian Visa to see if it was a TOURIST or AUTO-TOURIST ("АВТО ТУРИЗМ") Visa under the PURPOSE OF ENTRY?

Hope you're escape plan is going OK!

Please explain your repeated references to this mysterious "auto-tourist" visa...I've had many many Russian visas in my time and have never heard of, or needed, a so-called "auto-tourism" visa. why do you think it matters?

If one get a voucher that says "auto-tourism" from ones contacts in Russia its seems quite obvious that its natural to apply for a "auto-tourism" visa as well.....

That's kind of what I'm trying to determine - does it matter? An earlier post indicates that if you're traveling by MC (or any vehicle I presume) then you need an "Auto-Tourism" Voucher/Visa.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...189#post393724

A group I'm traveling with in August were provided "Auto-Tourism" Vouchers but the Russian Embassy in Washington DC rejected my application. The reason provided was that my Voucher company was not legit (or something along those lines). However, all others in the group used the same voucher and obtained "Auto-Tourism" Visas from different embassies (UK, Norway...). So, I obtained a "Tourist" Voucher provided through my Visa Processing company but they only offered a "Tourist" Voucher and not an "Auto-Tourism" voucher. SO, I then changed my Visa Application to reflect just a plain old "Tourism" Visa. I'm trying to get a warm fuzzy that not having an Auto Tourism Visa isn't going to be a problem when I showup at the border!!!

Yes, that's what I did the first time. Per above, I now have just a "Tourism" Voucher and am applying for a matching "Tourism" Visa.

In that entire thread you cited, "auto-tourism" visas were mentioned exactly once.

Has anyone ever read about someone being turned away from the Russian border because they don't have an auto-tourism visa? I certainly have not ever heard of such an instance. If you review the threads on this forum, you'll see that only debate is whether to get a tourist or business visa, and I have yet to hear of someone getting turned back at the border. I can tell you that I have never had an autotourism visa and have exited/entered Russian many times over the past several years.

Every Russian consulate/embassy applies the visa rules a bit differently, so that shouldn't be surprising.

FWIW, I never heard of an 'auto-tourism' visa when I was going through the process. As Motoreiter says, the only consideration was whether I needed a tourist or business visa. As I will enter Russia three times on the trip, I needed a business visa.

So far on the trip, I've entered Russia twice (once from Ukraine and once from Mongolia). There has been no reference at either border about an 'auto tourism' visa.

What I have experienced, however, is that the Russian Immigraton officials have been primed to flag up anyone who has passed through Ukraine. When leaving Russia and entering Mongolia, we were interviewed/debriefed by a Russian intelligence officer at the border (in an office for 30 minutes), asking about what we'd seen in Ukraine, e.g,. troop movements, protests, etc. As soon as the woman at the desk saw the Ukraine stamp in my passport, she called for the intelligence officer and it went from there.

Similarly, when we exited Mongolia into the Russian Altai, the immigration officer saw the Ukraine stamp and radioed for an intelligence officer. This time, the questions took place at the desk and only for about 5 minutes (after I told him we'd gone through a half-hour interview when entering Mongolia).

I suspect I'll have the same experience when I re-enter Russia from Kaz in a few weeks.

Thanks guys. Sounds like the Tourism visa should work fine then. Still curious why they even have an Auto Tourism voucher and visa as an option!

You can enter with a vehicle on a normal tourist visa.

Auto turizm will be on your invitation if you are specifically being invited with the purpose of driving.

Whatever your invitation says, make sure it matches your answer on the application form for the visa.

Sorry I was distracted and my memory isn't what it used to be
My visa has no mention of vehicle from what I can make out, when I applied for the visa the application needed flight number and or ticket numbers, I stated that I was over landing by motorcycle and quoted registration number. On reaching the border I had to fill in a "declaration" this required vin number registration model sect
I had this downloaded from the embassy website and filled in ready.....wasn't any good though as its a four page document and needs printing on both sides, ie. two pages.
No one told me Kazakhstan has a customs agreement with Russia so when I came to exit KAZ I had a shock and panic as to where said "declaration" was. Coupled with the border being in darkness due to power cut and the officer shouting
"Declaration, declaration, no declaration no exit, go back, find hotel, bye bye" it wasnt the best of crossings, so look after your bits of paper :-)
Entering Russia though was easy and very friendly, I entered from Lahansk Ukraine, a few days before it kicked off, no questions or interviews. The female officer was a cold stern woman when I first got there, after completing the paperwork she handed everything back and with a smile transformed into Sandra Bulluck :-)

sent from my thingy, using whatchamacallit

Hi All,

As my departure date is getting closer I want to start the paper work now. I just read that there’s one additional requirement from Ukrainians that seems to be troublesome.

According to Ukrainian Foreign Office to enter Crimea the "special permission" is required (for foreigners only).
On entry to the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol - Statements and Comments - MFA of Ukraine

Does anyone attempt to obtain such permission yet?
I'm waiting now for reply from the embassy but if you know anything about I'd appreciate hints.


Cheers
Fred

UPDATE
FYI
I just received the answer from Mr Consul of Ukraine in Warsaw, Poland. It's very short:

"Please acknowledge that transit crossing of the temporarily occupied territory is forbidden."

:nono:

Thanks Nick!

thanks Daniel!

We crossed from Ukraine to Russia June 10th I think it was. The Ukraine guards wouldn't let us out unless we purchased Russian vehicle insurance. Green card they called it. We went into a shed with a bed in it, and a large lady who was very polite charged us $60 each for a form she filled in.......all before we got out of Ukraine.
We were never asked for it to get into Russia????....it all seemed a bit of a scam to us.
When I get home, I'll post a copy of it so anyone can download it and fill their own details in....

Exrm293. I take it you have no Europeans insurance then. Russia had been incorporated into the normal green card insurance, there are still a few countries not included but Russia is, at least by my insurance company. If yours isn't it will be company policy and maybe a reason to change.
Scams are abundant everywhere, $60 was a good scam how long are you in Russia for, insurance for KAZ was $1 per day...roughly.

sent from my thingy, using whatchamacallit

My understanding is that many insurance companies continue to exclude Russia, so you need to check.

I've never heard of Ukrainian border guards insisting on insurance for Russia! Maybe not quite a scam, since you needed insurance for Russia anyway, but maybe they wanted to make sure you bought it from the border post commander's wife...

Maybe, but you'd think the Russians would ask to see it....we were never asked.
We're out of Russia now, it was a flying visit. Roads were too flat and too straight. It's such a maahoosive place it frazzled the brain!

Yeah, in my experience (I've entered Russia several times on a bike), they usually don't ask for insurance at the border, but if you're stopped on the road they will usually ask for it. Even if they don't ask for it, it is a good idea to have it.

This special permission is called a "Russian visa".

But since Ukraine does not recognise the new border, they can not stamp you out of Ukraine at that border.

So if you want to enter Crimea, its no problem (I was there recently) but you have to enter and exit from Russia.

Even the embassy couldn't explain what that “special permission” is as they are just working now on rules and terms of crossing to "occupied territory" according to new bill/law.

Mr. Consul was pretty straight on this saying transit is forbidden and I'm not going to argue with him.

I guess I’ll need to give up the plan (for some time at least) as crossing Crimea from Ukrainian side was the only reasonable option for me.

Currently in Kiev about to cross into Russia
 

After closely looking at the situation, this American has decided best to move on.


Looking at border crossing at Sumy (UA) and stay a night in Kursk (RU)


Will hope the hotel I choose will register me to RU and hope the crossing will be smooth.


Kent

We are off into the Crimea next month, I'm still unsure whether to ride through UA or northern Europe, Moscow then head south, this puts lots of extra miles on our trip but got to be a better option than bullet holes eh. Some people have got away with not having an Auto tourism Visa, but I would hate being turned away at the border on such a formality, also I was in Rus last year and didn't bother registering my visa at all despite being told that there was a $1000 fine so I suppose its whatever mood the guards are in.

Registration also depends on duration of stay. I booked into a hotel and kept the reciept, I'm positive that i wasn't registered at all, I was only in Russia for a week though
What is an auto tourism visa? At the border i filled in the declaration forms for temp import, my visa had no mention of entry method. My passport stamp depicted road transport entry, i presume if i flew in it would have depicted a plane.

If you stay more than seven days in one place you should have your visa registered, you can do it at a post office, your hotel can do it for you too. If you fly in you are a standard tourist, to take in a vehicle is Auto-tourist, for this you need to send a copy of your vehicles identity papers (UK= V5C or logbook) when you apply for your RUS visa, the registration is then included in your visa.

I used a london based agent who checked all the paperwork before sending my passport to the embassies. Stress and hassle free. Search for realRussia they dealt with Russian Chinese and the stans inbetween
The actual visa ie the page size sticker stuck into my passport doesn't state method of entry

Did you tell them you were taking a motorcycle? don't know how that will work out then good luck with it.

Too late for luck wishes....I'm back home now. ;-)

No issues with the visa then?

Not with the visa...just dont misplace the declaration or scribble addresses and telephone numbers on it thinking it wont be beeded in Kazakhstan.....like I did