Mandatory detour via Kiev to enter Russia ?

Following www.seat61.com, there are now reports of rail travelers coming from western europe that were stopped by russian police at the belarus-russia border. So finally the RZD trains from Paris, Nice, and Berlin are not suitable for westerners to enter Russia anymore. I hope that will be sorted out fast!

MarcVD said:

Following www.seat61.com, there are now reports of rail travelers coming from western europe that were stopped by russian police at the belarus-russia border. So finally the RZD trains from Paris, Nice, and Berlin are not suitable for westerners to enter Russia anymore. I hope that will be sorted out fast!

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So what's the point of the trains if people can't use them?

Please show a link to seat61 referencing this situation. Thanks

farci said:

Please show a link to seat61 referencing this situation. Thanks

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https://www.seat61.com/Russia.htm

IMPORTANT: Travel to Moscow via Belarus in 2020..

• Summary:
  
  No major problems were reported by any westerners using the direct Russian Railways trains from Paris, Nice, Vienna, Berlin, Prague or Warsaw to Moscow via Belarus in 2017, 2018 or 2019, in spite of there being a theoretical issue with westerners reaching Moscow via Belarus, due to the Belarus-Russia customs union so there's no border control.
  
  It seemed to be that as long as you had a valid Russian visa and a valid Belarus transit visa, travel from Western or Central Europe to Moscow on a direct Russian Railways international train was fine, even if it crossed Belarus. One traveller even confirmed this with the traincrew. The problem only arose if you want to START a train journey in Belarus to travel to Russia. This was the actual situation in practice, regardless of any theoretical official legal situation. This route is after all Russia's main 'front door', the main line to Moscow, the way people have always travelled since the 19th century...
  
  
• LATEST UPDATE, 2020 However, in early 2020 I have now had two reports from travellers who were taken off international trains at Smolensk, because they had crossed overland from Belarus to Russia. Both reports involved a Warsaw to Moscow journey on the Berlin-Moscow Strizh. One traveller had made a dozen similar journeys without incident since 2015 and asked why the random check now. He was told it varied with the political ups and downs between Russia and Belarus. So whilst the situation below seems to hold true for most westerners on most international trains, you might want to consider diverting via Kiev to avoid Belarus.
  

• Situation in detail, at least until the latest update above...
  
  Since 2016 there has been some concern about entering Russia via Belarus, to do with the Belarus-Russia customs union and the lack of border formalities between the two countries - though of course Brest-Minsk-Moscow has been the perfectly normal mainline rail route for international travellers for over 100 years.
  
  It seems that in practice the Russians are OK with people entering Russia on these direct Russian trains via Brest on the Polish/Belarus border as Moscow-bound passengers appear to have their Russian visas checked here. Many people use these trains every week, but so far I've had zero reports of anyone on these trains having any problem in 2016, 2017, 2018 and just one report in 2019 - but only one isolated report so other factors may have been involved. I have had a steady trickle of positive confirmations that people have used these trains without a problem. Polrail.com haven't heard from anyone who's had any problem using these international trains either, and nor have Real Russia.
  
  When leaving Russia, travellers report that they simply showed the Belarus entry stamp that they received at Brest when they entered to the Belarus-Russia unified customs area, and that seems to satisfy the Russian border staff when you leave Russia.
  
  On the other hand, you cannot start a journey in Belarus and go to Russia, as there's nowhere to check visas in between Minsk and Moscow. Real Russia tell me they had reports of people being taken off Minsk-Moscow trans and sent back to Minsk even with valid Russian visas - but so far, they tell me they've had reports from anyone having problems on the Russian-run international trains from Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Vienna or Prague to Moscow via Brest.
  

• By all means check the latest advice at http://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/belarus, although at the time I write this it simply refers you to your travel provider. I suppose I should add the disclaimer that I can only report what I hear from travel companies and travellers, and you travel at your own risk - but read the traveller's feedback below, it seems pretty conclusive!
  
  
• PLEASE REPORT BACK!! If you successfully travel to Russia on a direct Russian train through Belarus to Moscow, please let me know. It's difficult to prove a negative, but the more 'no problem' reports I get, the more confident we can be.
  

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superalbs said:

So what's the point of the trains if people can't use them?

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For Russians to use.

Is the Ukranian / Russian border safe to use? So trains still run?

duesselmartin said:

Is the Ukranian / Russian border safe to use? So trains still run?

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Yes. Despite the rock&roll state of relations between Russia and Ukraine, trains between Moscow and Kiev never ceased running. As far as I know, Kiev is the town outside Russia that gets the most frequent service with Moscow, with several trains daily.

Kyiv-Moscow doesn't go through the rebel areas of Ukraine, which are further east.

So, to explain the situation: the problem is caused by the unilateral Russian obligation that Non-EAEU citizens can only enter Russia through an international checkpoint. Seems fair, right?

But... Because of the State Union of Russia and Belarus, there are no international border crossings between the two. If you go by car, by train or by plane, the journey is always domestic and without formal passport control.

What is happening now is that Russia is now enforcing the law on train passengers, while previously, it only applied to those going by air and land.

So yes, you have to leave/enter via Riga or Kyiv. It's causing a lot of problems, as for instance, a truck driver from Germany now has to go up to Latvia in order to reach Moscow.

Why is it? Simple - it's Russia's way of putting pressure on Belarus to harmonise visas and immigration with them. Belarus doesn't want it, and so the current situation persists.

There's an ongoing discussion of this at TripAdvisor. Most recent posts (starting in January) linked here:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTop...us_russian_border_for_foreigners-Belarus.html

So for now, the most sensible solution seems to be :
Berlin 9:37 EC 45 15:50 Warszawa Wschodnia 18:13 D 68 d+1 11:00 Kiev Pass 19:36 D 6KJ d+2 10:14 Moskva Kievskaia
Which ensures all departures and arrivals at decent hours and some time to visit Kiev on the way...
Avoiding Belarus via Baltic states is almost impossible unless taking buses.
It sure will be less practical (and thence popular) than the direct train Paris-Moscow in one day and two nights...