The Russian government has decided to officially close 20 border crossing points with Ukraine established by a 1995 agreement, starting from 1 August. Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service has emphasised that all crossing points on the border with the Russian Federation have been officially closed since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

The Russian government has decided to officially close 20 border crossing points with Ukraine established by a 1995 agreement, starting from 1 August. Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service has emphasised that all crossing points on the border with the Russian Federation have been officially closed since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

Source: Russian media outlet; a decree signed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin; a comment to Ukrainska Pravda by Colonel Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service

Details: The Russian government’s order refers to the closure of border crossings established under the agreement between the Russian and Ukrainian governments dated 8 February 1995. The list includes 13 road and seven railway crossings.

Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service responded to this report as follows.

Quote from Demchenko: "It is difficult to understand the logic of the Russians: why has the aggressor state decided to announce the closure of several border crossing points with Ukraine in the fourth year of the full-scale war they started?

Meanwhile, some of these crossing points are in fact located on the border with Ukraine within the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, which the Russian Federation seized back in 2014 [such as the Donetsk crossing point in Rostov Oblast on the border with Luhansk Oblast – ed]. The list also includes crossing points in Russia’s Voronezh, Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod oblasts.

In turn, it is worth noting that by a decision of the Ukrainian government, all crossing points on the border with the Russian Federation have been closed since the beginning of the full-scale invasion and no crossing operations are conducted there, particularly in the usual form as people might generally understand it."

Details: Meanwhile, Demchenko stressed that Ukraine remains ready to ensure the return of Ukrainian citizens at any section of the border, as was the case, for example, via the Pokrovka crossing point in Sumy Oblast [this route is currently not operational – ed.].

“Of course, this also depends on Russia and its willingness to make this possible for Ukrainians,” he added.

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