INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
dissidents and Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia.Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland have implemented bans on passenger vehicles
restrictions on Russian citizens passed after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine last February.Russian activists who are helping Ukrainian
refugees warn the vehicle ban will significantly hinder the evacuation from Russia of seriously ill and disabled people, many of whom
require specialized assistance.In one instance, a Ukrainian woman with terminal cancer who fled to Russia from the Kremlin-occupied
Ukrainian city of Mariupol was forced to cross the Russian-Estonian border in a wheelchair on Sunday due to the ban, Grigory
Mikhnov-Voitenko, a Russian priest and rights activist who assists Ukrainian refugees, told The Moscow Times.After clearing the Russian
which first reported the incident.According to Mikhnov-Voitenko, the ambulance driver transporting the woman was told by Estonian border
Mikhnov-Voitenko said that his team, which works with Ukrainian refugees, receives up to four requests for help from disabled people every
impact Russian opposition figures seeking to leave the country amid its wartime crackdown on dissident voices, activists and independent
that it adversely affects anti-war Russians and adds fuel to the Kremlin's narrative of anti-Russian sentiment in the West.The ban
said in a letter to the three Baltic states last week.Anastasia Burakova, a Russian lawyer and the head of Kovcheg, an international group
said.While the entry bans were issued after the European Commission clarified that existing regulations prohibit the import or transfer of
car, echoed the argument that the ban will harm Russians fleeing repression."This ban primarily targets Russians who are not pleased with
who advocate in support of the ban argue that it is part of the sanctions imposed on Russia in response to the ongoing conflict in
Ukraine."A car registered in Russia has no right to enter Poland," Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said last week."This is another
element of the sanctions imposed on Russia and its citizens in connection with the brutal war in Ukraine, due to the fact that the Russian
Russian license plates from entering the country.Finland announced that the restrictions would not apply to EU citizens and their close
attempts by vehicles with Russian license plates to cross the border since the ban.As for everyone else, private cars with Russian license
plates appear to no longer be a feasible means of transportation into the EU."I think that political decisions will now be taken into
