Human rights organizations report that Russia is refusing to allow citizens with Ukrainian passports to cross the russian-belarusian border to return to Ukraine through the humanitarian corridor Mokrany (Belarus) – Domanovo (Ukraine).

To assist in this situation, human rights activists recommend using an emergency travel document from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). This document should aid Ukrainian citizens in returning to government-controlled territory.

Vice Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk chaired a special meeting to discuss this initiative. Representatives from the Ministry of Reintegration, the State Border Guard Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Security Service of Ukraine were in attendance.

The attendees unanimously supported the proposal, as the use of such a document would create additional opportunities for Ukrainians to cross the border between russia and belarus.

“We have to do everything we can to give our citizens more opportunities to return home. The ICRC emergency travel document will be an additional tool for this,” emphasized Iryna Vereshchuk.

The ICRC provides an emergency travel document to individuals who lack a passport or other identification. This document is issued based on the universal right to humanitarian initiative recognized by the ICRC and is valid for one-way travel only.