Kyrgyzstan says no reports about mass denials to its citizens entering Russia

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Kyrgyzstan on Thursday said that it received “no reports” regarding mass denials of entry to its citizens traveling to Russia.

“As of May 2, 2024, the diplomatic mission and consular offices of the Kyrgyz Republic in the Russian Federation have not received any reports of mass denial of entry into the Russian Federation to citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic,” said a statement by the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry.

Reiterating the country’s travel advisory for Russia, the statement indicated that the ministry, as well as foreign agencies in Kyrgyzstan, are monitoring the current situation in Russia and its impact on the legal status of its citizens.

“The ministry again recommends that fellow citizens, who do not have compelling reasons to travel to the Russian Federation, temporarily refrain from traveling to its territory until the previously introduced additional security measures and the regime of enhanced control of entry across the state border are lifted,” the statement said.

It also called on Kyrgyz citizens to check in advance for any restrictions on their entry into the country should they travel to Russia.

On March 25, the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry issued a travel advisory for its citizens to refrain from traveling to Russia, three days after an attack at the Crocus City Hall in the Moscow region killed at least 144 people and injured more than 550 others.

Since then, Russian law enforcement agencies have been carrying out more thorough checks of foreign citizens entering the country.

Due to the increased checks, Tajikistan on Monday summoned Russia’s ambassador to Dushanbe to convey its concerns over an “expressly negative attitude” toward its citizens, saying about 1,000 of its citizens were held at Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport “without providing proper sanitary conditions.”