Foreigners who have deleted their browsing history or contact list from their phones before crossing the Russian border are not allowed to enter Russia, the Moscow Times reports, citing state media.
The portal cites two cases. In one, a woman deleted her chat history, YouTube browsing history, and file gallery, and in the other, a man deleted several contacts and about 5,000 photos from his smartphone. None of these people were allowed to enter Russia.
Russian security services have deemed the deletion of information from phones as an attempt to “conceal true political views” and evidence of “prior preparations” for border control. According to the Moscow Times, journalists have established that there have been at least 10 appeals against such decisions, but none have been granted. As the portal emphasizes, so far this problem has primarily affected Ukrainian citizens.
Currently, Ukrainians can only enter Russia through Sheremetyevo Airport, but they undergo interrogations and checks. The portal emphasizes that in the event of refusal to allow passage across the border, Ukrainian citizens are banned from entering Russia for a period of 20 to 50 years. This ban de facto also applies to Belarus, because the Ministry of Internal Affairs of that country synchronizes its databases with Russian ones, the Moscow Times noted. (PAP)
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