Travel agencies: no problem with going to Crimea through Russia

For the third tourist season Crimea is considered by Ukraine to be temporarily occupied. This means that it is possible to get there through Ukraine only with a special permission. But the Belarusian travel agencies continue to take tourists to Crimea on vacation through Russia.

In one of the travel agencies we tried to book a trip to Crimea in the middle of July.

"We can offer you a resort in Sudak for $485 per person with breakfast for 10 days in mid-July," said the travel agency staff member. For the money, you can rest in Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia.

The agency promised that you will have no problems after Crimea.

Another travel agency assured us that you can only have problems if you travel to Crimea through Russia and go back through Ukraine.

"A lot of people are considering gooing to Crimea, but few order a trip. But there is a demand. If people travel through Russia and go back through Russia, they will have no problems, because we pass through the Krasnodar region," assured us the travel agency.

But the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a different view: a trip to Crimea via Russia could have consequences.

"When going to Crimea through the territory of the Russian Federation, citizens of Belarus should bear in mind that it can serve as a basis for Ukraine to refuse them entry into the territory of Ukraine and bring them to administrative responsibility in accordance with Ukrainian legislation," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Dzmitry Mironchyk.

Ministry of Sport and Tourism also makes recommendations about travel to Crimea:

"Ukrainian legislation has not changed. We inform our citizens that they later may have difficulty getting into Ukraine."

So far, we only know about one case. Belarusian musician Maks Korzh was not allowed to Ukraine, possibly because of his earlier concert in Crimea.

Last year, 533 thousand Belarusian tourists went out of the country. According to the National Statistical Committee, majority of them went to Russia, Bulgaria, Greece, Egypt, Spain.