Russian border guards at the Shumilkino and Kunichina Gora checkpoints on the border with Estonia require you to fill out forms with personal data (down to the IMEI of your phone) and questions about your attitude to the war in Ukraine.
Mediazona's source said that such questionnaires are issued selectively, and connected this with the presence of two citizenships, Russian and European.
Photo: “Mediazona”
The interlocutor added that, according to his stories acquaintances who faced checks last year, border guards also study the phone, connecting it to a special program: “Apparently, they are looking for some keywords and, as they say, they even find what was erased. They check the IMEI with the number they wrote in the application form. In general, they say, they all take about 15 minutes, asking about their attitude [toward the war].”
He connects the start of the checks with the murder of Ukrainian ex-deputy Ilya Kiva last December. Then the Pskov Province wrote about inspections at Shumilkino.