By train, bicycle, tractor and plane: how Russians and Belarusians flee to Lithuania
The admission of Russians to Lithuania raises many dilemmas. Politicians are tightening their rhetoric, warning that Lithuania cannot allow a “fifth column” to settle in the country.
But analysts who are well versed in Russian and Belarusian dissidents are urging not to turn a blind eye to the growing human rights abuses and persecution of dissidents in those states.
Roads to Lithuania
Since the beginning of the war, Lithuania has made a decision in principle not to extradite Russian citizens.
There are rare exceptions for this purpose for humanitarian purposes – when Vilnius provides shelter for Democrats, human rights activists or Russian family members living in Lithuania.
The idea of inviting high-tech professionals who want to leave Russia to Lithuania was brief.
Aušrinė Armonaitė, the Minister of Economy, who announced the plan to attract them in the middle of the fight, suspended the issuance of new letters of mediation to international companies, which had a large number of representative offices.
Russians without visas remain on the roads. One of them is a train journey between the Krasnodar region and mainland Russia.
Hundreds of Russians cross the territory of Lithuania every year with simplified travel documents. Traveling by train through Lithuania usually takes at least five hours.
This scheme is coordinated with the European Union, is funded by the Community budget and is not under review, despite the war.
State Border Guard Service 15min confirmed that six Russians who had taken the train had already applied for asylum in Lithuania this year – two at the border with the Königsberg area at the Kybartai point and four at the Kena border near Belarus.
“A typical profile of a Russian asylum seeker is a person who avoids long-term political persecution or military service and war in Ukraine,” he said in a statement prepared by the SBGS. 15min.
This year, a total of 30 cases were recorded by border guards when Russian citizens applied for asylum in Lithuania, more than half of them after Russia started the war in Ukraine.
Both bicycles and planes run
According to the SBGS, in 23 cases out of 30 Russians, they applied for asylum at border checkpoints.
However, according to border guards, there are more interesting cases of running away from the regime.
Sometimes Russians flee from their country to Lithuania with their families, there have been cases when Russians came to Lithuania by bicycle during the cold season.
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