The UK Foreign Office has advised Brits against all travel to the vast area near Russia’s border as the military conflict between Kiev and Moscow continues.
In a travel advisory update on Friday, the UK government told Brits to avoid all travel to “within 50km of the border in the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Rostov and Voronezh regions,” citing the “build-up of Russian forces and ongoing military activity.”
Previously, on February 24 following the outbreak of conflict, the Foreign Office had advised against “all but essential travel” to within “20km of the border.”
The Foreign Office has also long advised against all travel to the Russian regions of Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Dagestan in the North Caucasus near Georgia, citing “security reasons,” and all but essential travel to North Ossetia, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Kabardino-Balkaria, also in the North Caucasus.
“There are multiple reports of widespread military activity in Ukraine. You should not attempt to cross into Ukraine from Russia,” the Foreign Office warned in its current advisory, urging Brits to keep passports on hand at all times and “avoid commenting publicly on political developments.”
Since the breakout of conflict, the UK has banned all Russian flights – including private jets – from entering its airspace. Russia responded by banning all UK-registered flights from its own airspace.
The UK government has also sanctioned Russian President Vladimir Putin and other government officials and claimed it is working to “exclude Russia from the SWIFT financial system.”
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said this week that the UK would “not rest until Russia’s economy has been degraded and Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity restored,” while Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he “hoped Ukraine could resist” Russia’s military operations.
The UK government has said it would not take an “active role in Ukraine,” with Armed Forces Minister James Heappey warning, “We must all be clear what the risk of miscalculation could be, and how existential that could very quickly become if people miscalculate and things escalate unnecessarily.”