Ukrainian Refugees Not Allowed Into EU Without International Passports, Border Guard Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Most Ukrainian refugees will no longer be able to leave the country without international passports, an exception can be made only for those who are coming from regions where hostilities are taking place, Ukrainian border guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko said on Monday.

"[We will be] paying attention to where a person comes from. If they are from a region where hostilities are taking place, then border guards can make separate decisions for such people regarding admission with domestic passports," Demchenko told the Ukraine 24 broadcaster.

He added that residents of other regions will be denied permission to cross the border without a passport for foreign travel.

Over the past month and a half, Ukrainian citizens without international passports could freely enter the European Union. This was due to the heavy workload of the employees of the department, who did not have time to properly process the documents of Ukrainians who had massively rushed abroad, according to Demchenko.

On Sunday evening, the state-owned company Ukrainian Railways on its official Telegram channel reported about the cases of Ukrainian refugees being taken off the train by the Ukrainian border guard on the border with the EU countries because they did not hold international passports.

Both Ukrainian Railways and the passengers had no advance warning about the changes in the border crossing procedure.

On 24 February, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. In response, the West rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow, which includes airspace closures and restrictive measures targeting numerous Russian officials and entities, media and financial institutions.