Go Back   Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB > Regional Forums > Northern and Central Asia
Northern and Central Asia Topics specific to Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, China, Japan and Korea
Photo by Erling Foshaugen, Curious kid in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Erling Foshaugen,
Curious kid in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia



Like Tree25Likes
  • 16 Post By colebatch
  • 1 Post By duibhceK
  • 4 Post By colebatch
  • 4 Post By colebatch

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 14 Sep 2021
colebatch's Avatar
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: London / Moscow
Posts: 1,913
Russian Border Zones and Closed Zones

Another reference thread

Russia has a wide variety of areas restricted to foreign citizens (and sometimes it own citizens too - not unlike Area 51 in the states). If you are planning trips to Russia, especially those off the beaten track, it would be useful to know where you can not go. Unfortunately the information is sparse and not all that transparent. Further, it generally only exists in printed word format (though I am told foreign embassies in Moscow have been given each a copy of maps of restricted areas, but no one shares this.

So I have taken it upon myself to collate all this information and put it together so it can be overlaid on Google Earth or Garmin Mapsource / Basecamp, or SAS Planet, or Locus Maps etc ... so in the planning (and indeed travelling) stages, you can be aware of where you are with respect to closed zones.

There are 3 key types of zones closed to foreigners:

1. Border Zones (can be freely transited when travelling directly to / from border crossings)
2. Foreign Persons exclusion zones (poorly marked, lightly policed - but in theory permit needed)
3. ZATO (Closed Cities - serious no-go zones - permission unlikely to be given)

In several cases these overlap. Often ZATOs have a larger Foreign Persons Exclusion Zone around them. Around Murmansk, the Foreign Persons Exclusion Zone includes 5 ZATOs.

Permission to travel through Border and Foreigner Exclusion zones is often or even usually granted (you do need to apply via an travel agent months in advance), but that depends on the nature of the closed zone and the genuineness of your reason for applying. If it is travel then you will want to specify a clear route and what you want to see there that justifies you entering the zone. Permission for foreigners to enter a ZATO is unlikely to be given, (they are closed cities even for Russians) but ZATOs are generally small and take up very little real estate so easy to avoid. While the fine print typically needs to be checked, travel through a Foreigner Exclusion Zone is sometimes automatically permitted on main roads. That is the case with SOME main roads in the North Ossetian exclusion zone which takes up the bulk of the province. It is also the case in Murmansk... where the main highway between Murmansk and the Norwegian border post is allowed to be used for transit, without a permit.

Re Border Zones: Sometimes as little as half a km or less wide in areas like the Baltic, they can also be close to 100km wide in areas such as Tuva. Thus having a good idea of exactly where it is can be pretty useful when exploring. You do not need permission to be in a border zone if you are on a PRIMARY ROAD travelling to or coming from a multilateral (open to all persons, as opposed to merely locals) border crossing (all the multilateral road border crossings for Russia are marked on the waypoints file). If you want to be in a border zone for any other reason, you will need permission.

DO NOT camp in a border zone. Simply get to and from the border post via the main road as quickly as possible. I would also choose not to stay in hotels in Border Zones just to be safe an to keep as low a profile as possible. DO NOT fly drones in a border zone or closed zone or near the boundaries of any.

None of this will be relevant for 98+% of moto travellers to Russia in the first place though it is worth noting a couple of exceptions that normal travellers will come across. The Trans Siberian highway near Svobodny in the far east goes through a ZATO linked to the new Russian space port at Vostochny / Tsiolkovsky (and I believe some strategic missile silos nearby), and the highway between Novosibirsk to Barnaul passes through a small ZATO linked to a Strategic Missile Forces base. In both of those cases it is explicitly stated that travel along the Federal Highway is of course permitted. But again, knowing where those closed zones are would be useful for knowing where you should not be wandering off the main road to make camp in the woods.

ZATOs tend to be far more strictly policed and well signposted, while foreign exclusion zones generally are weakly policed if at all and I have never seen any signpost related to them. One point of note is that hotels in foreigner exclusion zones will be most unlikely to let you stay as they will not be able to register your stay with the authorities, as they are obliged to do (unless of course you have a permit to be there). If you are not staying in a hotel in an exclusion zone and are just passing through, you are reasonably unlikely to have any issues - that doesn't mean you WONT get into trouble, just that the likelihood empirically seems to be very low - so low that I am unaware of anyone who has gotten into trouble being in such a zone. One example is just outside Moscow near Odintsovo is a large foreigner exclusion zone surrounding the ZATO of Vlasikha (a small strategic missile forces town). The foreigner exclusion zone takes in a huge swathe of prime real estate where many have their luxury dachas, and many Moscow expats will routinely be visiting. I have never heard of any Moscow expat having an issue there in 20 years. The town of Vlasikha itself is surrounded by barbed wire fences and has 2 security checkpoints to enter and exit showing your special FSB permits, but the wider exclusion zone is not even known to Moscow locals, and I have never even seen any signs, let alone checkpoints. That doesn't mean all exclusion zones will be so lax.

Over time restricted areas tend to shrink and there are about 7-8 fewer ZATOs than there were 20 years ago. Border zones are shrinking and narrowing with each update. The amount of restricted territory is shrinking and the amount of open territory is expanding - the country gets more open by the year, and I will look to incorporate any further updates in time into this thread.

Finally ... this information is just that, information. It is collected from various printed sources and transferred onto a map by hand. I am still incorporating the latest updates and will update the file in due course. I do not claim it is complete, or 100% accurate, nor do I accept any liability for the accuracy of the information in case you do get into trouble.

Note: these will be updated from time to time. The FSB is in the process of converting the definition of border zone areas from the previous reliance on local administrative boundaries (themselves poorly defined) that had served since early in the soviet period 100 or so years ago, to a more modern and precise geo-position co-ordinate based system. They are doing this region by region. In general this is shrinking the border zones and leaving a lot more room for free travel. I will try to keep abreast of the updates as I get them and process them and convert them into digital map formats.

I have not included Kaliningrad region as it is a maze of restricted areas very challenging to plot.

Here are the Border and Closed Zones in GPX format map as at 27.Sep.2021. It isnt 100% up to date but I suspect it is now pretty close - and any amendments and updates are generally less restrictive, so you should be reasonably safe going by these. You will be able to convert the map to all sorts of formats via online tools.
Attached Files
File Type: gpx Russian Closed & Border Zones Updated.gpx (996.5 KB, 264 views)

Last edited by colebatch; 27 Sep 2021 at 13:54.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 14 Sep 2021
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 300
Nice work!
I must say it's kind of ironic to name a closed zone "svobodny" though
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 15 Sep 2021
colebatch's Avatar
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: London / Moscow
Posts: 1,913
Quote:
Originally Posted by duibhceK View Post
Nice work!
I must say it's kind of ironic to name a closed zone "svobodny" though
Lets put it down to Soviet humor
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 21 Sep 2021
colebatch's Avatar
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: London / Moscow
Posts: 1,913
Updates

I have now added in updates to the border zones for the following regions ... all of which have been amended and updated between 2013 and 2021:


Karachay-Cherkessia (2013) [to create more room around Arkhyz and Dombai ski areas free from border zone]

Krasnodar (2020) [to improve clarity regarding the limits of the zone around the Sochi - Adler metropolitan area and Roza Khutor ski area]

Crimea (2014)

Smolensk (2016), Pskov (2016), Bryansk (2016) [Added a border zone on the Belarus border where there previously was none]

Rostov (2018) Orenburg (2019), Amur (2019), Buryatia (2019), Chita / Trans-Baikal (2020), Volgograd (2020), Primorsky / Vladivostok (2020), Voronezh (2020), Belgorod (2020), Saratov (2021). [general updates, narrowing of the zone and conversion to geo-location co-ordinates (GPS points)]

Note I have still not included Kaliningrad region in here ... as its extensively border zone. Also note the remote inaccessible islands in the Arctic Ocean and the Kuril Islands in the Pacific Ocean are generally border zones (but its virtually impossible to get to them anyway)

The updated file is available in the original post in this thread.

Assorted References:
ZATO List: http://pravo.gov.ru/proxy/ips/?docbo...&&nd=102071900
Foreigner Exclusion Zones List: http://pravo.gov.ru/proxy/ips/?docbody=&nd=102017268
A pre 2012 Border Zone list with definitions: https://www.mccme.ru/putevod/Border/border.html
Border Zone Updates can be found on a few sources (with searching), most of which (but not all) are here: http://ps.fsb.ru/fps/law/generaldoc.htm

Last edited by colebatch; 22 Sep 2021 at 09:25.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 26 Sep 2021
colebatch's Avatar
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: London / Moscow
Posts: 1,913
Updated again ... this time adding in all the ZATOs, including the ones inside exclusion zones ... as the penalties and permission for ZATOs is very different. So the Zones are now all individually listed, and in three different colours for differentiation.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 9 Apr 2022
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 102
Russian Borders Open

Hi All

Im looking for some assistance or advice as I presently have my Toyota Landcruiser in Russia and I'm looking to relocate it from Russia into any EU country. I was planning to do this at the end of May 2022 and was looking at Estonia as a possible land border crossing.

Has anybody got any relevant Border information if this is possible at present??

Regards
Ray
__________________
Regards Ray http://cooksendeavour.com
Instagram: raycooknz
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11 Apr 2024
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
 
Join Date: Apr 2024
Posts: 2
Would like to know what borders are currently open for road traffic from europe-russia. Thank you
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 22 May 2024
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Switzerland
Posts: 232
Mongolia

Thanks for this, good stuff.

Do you have by any chance a pointer to the same information for Mongolia ? I know several people who got in trouble near the Chinese border in the Gobi desert, so that would be handy.

Laurent
__________________
2- and 4-wheeled explorer and photographer
Overland Aventure
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 Registered Users and/or Members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Road Of Bones / The federal road M56 fnormet Northern and Central Asia 10 6 Feb 2017 13:13

 
 

Announcements

Thinking about traveling? Not sure about the whole thing? Watch the HU Achievable Dream Video Trailers and then get ALL the information you need to get inspired and learn how to travel anywhere in the world!

Have YOU ever wondered who has ridden around the world? We did too - and now here's the list of Circumnavigators!
Check it out now
, and add your information if we didn't find you.

Next HU Eventscalendar

ALL Dates subject to change.

2025 Confirmed Events:

  • Virginia: April 24-27 2025
  • Queensland is back! May 2-4 2025
  • Germany Summer: May 29-June 1 2025
  • CanWest: July 10-13 2025
  • Switzerland: Date TBC
  • Ecuador: Date TBC
  • Romania: Date TBC
  • Austria: Sept. 11-14
  • California: September 18-21
  • France: September 19-21 2025
  • Germany Autumn: Oct 30-Nov 2 2025

Add yourself to the Updates List for each event!

Questions about an event? Ask here

See all event details

 
World's most listened to Adventure Motorbike Show!
Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...

Adventurous Bikers – We've got all your Hygiene & Protection needs SORTED! Powdered Hair & Body Wash, Moisturising Cream Insect Repellent, and Moisturising Cream Sunscreen SPF50. ESSENTIAL | CONVENIENT | FUNCTIONAL.

2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.

2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.

"Ultimate global guide for red-blooded bikers planning overseas exploration. Covers choice & preparation of best bike, shipping overseas, baggage design, riding techniques, travel health, visas, documentation, safety and useful addresses." Recommended. (Grant)



Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance.

Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance™ combines into a single integrated program the best evacuation and rescue with the premier travel insurance coverages designed for adventurers.

Led by special operations veterans, Stanford Medicine affiliated physicians, paramedics and other travel experts, Ripcord is perfect for adventure seekers, climbers, skiers, sports enthusiasts, hunters, international travelers, humanitarian efforts, expeditions and more.

Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!


 

What others say about HU...

"This site is the BIBLE for international bike travelers." Greg, Australia

"Thank you! The web site, The travels, The insight, The inspiration, Everything, just thanks." Colin, UK

"My friend and I are planning a trip from Singapore to England... We found (the HU) site invaluable as an aid to planning and have based a lot of our purchases (bikes, riding gear, etc.) on what we have learned from this site." Phil, Australia

"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA

"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada

"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa

"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia

"Keep going the excellent work you are doing for Horizons Unlimited - I love it!" Thomas, Germany

Lots more comments here!



Five books by Graham Field!

Diaries of a compulsive traveller
by Graham Field
Book, eBook, Audiobook

"A compelling, honest, inspiring and entertaining writing style with a built-in feel-good factor" Get them NOW from the authors' website and Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk.



Back Road Map Books and Backroad GPS Maps for all of Canada - a must have!

New to Horizons Unlimited?

New to motorcycle travelling? New to the HU site? Confused? Too many options? It's really very simple - just 4 easy steps!

Horizons Unlimited was founded in 1997 by Grant and Susan Johnson following their journey around the world on a BMW R80G/S.

Susan and Grant Johnson Read more about Grant & Susan's story

Membership - help keep us going!

Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.

You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.




All times are GMT +1. The time now is 00:01.