KYIV. Nov 30 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian State Border Service has tightened border control and restricted the arrivals of foreigers, primarily male Russian citizens 16 to 60 years old, agency head Petro Tsygykal said.
"Checkpoint control has been tightened. The arrivals of foreign citizens, above all citizens of Russia, have been restricted. There is no admittance of male Russian citizens aged 16 to 60," Tsygykal said at a meeting on national defense chaired by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Friday morning.
No restrictions have been imposed on Ukrainian citizens at the border, he said.
"Am I right that these measures are preventing Russia from forming private army units, which are actually composed of servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces, and from carrying out the operations they attempted to carry out in 2014?" Poroshenko asked. Tsygykal said yes.
Poroshenko stressed the importance of having stricter requirements for the registration of Russian citizens, especially in regions where martial law is in effect.
The president later wrote on Twitter that the ban was aimed at preventing the creation of Russian paramilitary units in Ukraine. "Ukraine has restricted the arrivals of male Russian citizens aged 16 to 60 in order to prevent the formation of 'private' Russian armies that are actually composed of Russian servicemen and to prevent Russia from carrying out the operations in Ukraine it was planning back in 2014," Poroshenko wrote.
The Ukrainian State Border Service significantly restricted the admittance of adult Russian males on April 14, 2014, citing fear of terror attacks.
The restrictions applied to men aged 16 to 60, who were permitted to enter Ukraine only when there was an emergency, with the consent of the head of the regional branch of the border service, and with verification, such as a document certifying one's family relations or the death or severe illness of close relatives.
Ukraine started to enforce stricter control on its border with Russia almost immediately, and 100 passengers on three Russian airlines were denied entry on the first day. The number of rejected passengers significantly declined the next day. As of early December, the Ukrainian border guard had denied entry to almost 14,500 Russian citizens. In January-November 2014, Ukraine saw 2.3 million Russian arrivals; 2013's total had been 9 million.
There was no official report of the lifting of the restrictions imposed in 2014. On January 1, 2018, the Ukrainian State Border Service began taking biometric data of foreigners and stateless persons arriving from 70 countries, including Russia, in furtherance of the decision of the National Security and Defense Council and the Presidential Decree on Stricter Control over the Arrival and Departure of Foreigners and Stateless Persons and their Compliance with the Rules of Stay in Ukraine.