Ukraine journalist refused entry into Belarus

Ukrainian journalist Oksana Kovalenko was not allowed to enter Belarus when she was 'travelling with a private purpose.' Belarusian border guards removed her from the Minsk-bound train in the night of July 2 saying she was blacklisted by Russia. Belarus and Russia are in the so called Union State and exhange the 'ban lists' to prevent persona non-grata from entering the 'joint' territory.

Kovalenko's passport was 'Entry Refused' stamped. The journalist was later embarked on the next train to Kyiv, according to Oksana's post on Facebook.

TUT.by reports that Ukraine's Embassy is preparing a note of protest.

The Belarus Border Committee explains that the officers acted under the law on the legal status of foreign citizens and persons without citizenship. The Belarus Foreign Ministry said Kovalenko did not apply for accreditation [as a journalist' and was travelling to Belarus privately.