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Belarus Blocks Transit for Russians Listed as Draftees

The move uses Russia’s digital summons system to enforce automatic travel bans across the shared border.

Overview

  • Belarusian border authorities said Russian citizens who have received draft notices will not be allowed to leave the country via Belarus.
  • Officials said they check a common Russia–Belarus database that shows whether a Russian traveler is barred from exiting and told those blocked to address the ban with Russian authorities.
  • Rights lawyers reported that a man on the conscription list was stopped from flying out of Minsk National Airport while trying to travel to Georgia and Armenia.
  • Under Russia’s 2023 digital summons law, a call-up posted online counts as served after seven days and skipping it can trigger an automatic ban on foreign travel.
  • An NGO that helps conscientious objectors expects denials to rise as cooperation tightens, which could further close a route many Russians have used to reach Georgia and Armenia.