Although on our site we have almost no profiles of women who reside in the Donbas region, we often receive messages from the men who are in contact with the women of this region and who ask us several questions about them. travel between Donbas region, Ukraine and Western Europe.
Here are the questions we are asked:
Is there a real war in Eastern Ukraine?
Can I travel to Luhansk (Lugansk) or Donetsk?
How to bring a woman from Donbas to France?
How and how much does a Ukrainian biometric international passport cost?
How is life in Donbas?
Some men think Eastern Ukraine is really dangerous because of the war.
In fact, all cities in eastern Ukraine are much safer than the suburbs of Paris.
The Ukrainian army is on the dividing line with the Russian-controlled Donbas region.
Since the end of the active phase of the military conflict in 2015, the demarcation line has not changed.
Ukraine does not carry out any public or private activity in the Donbas region.
It means that there are no government establishments, no Ukrainian private or public banks operating there.
On the other hand, there are local or Russian banks, internet providers, cellular network, so life in Donbas is not too different from life in France or Ukraine in terms of accessibility to these services. .
But of course there are a lot of restrictions as Donbas is not an entity recognized by the international community.
So how is the border crossing by Ukrainian citizens who reside in Donbas?
Katia, from the Donbas region, will answer this question:
Since 2015 the Donbas region (Luhansk and Donetsk region) has the status of territory not controlled by Ukraine, the border crossing procedure has become much more complicated.
To begin with I would like to clarify that due to the situation with the coronavirus the border crossing procedure has been changed. For the moment the borders between Ukraine and Donbas are closed (Donbass is the Donetsk + Lugansk region). So officially the people who live in the territory of Donbass cannot come to Ukraine and vice versa, the Ukrainians cannot go there. Then the only possibility for the lady to come to Ukraine is to cross the border with Russia and pass the Russian territory (the city of Rostov-on-Don), since the borders between Donbass and Russia are open.
In fact, people who live in the territory of Donbass can have 3 passports: Ukrainian passport, Russian passport, Donbass passport.
The lady can come to Ukraine using only the Ukrainian passport.
So we could provide two possibilities of border crossing.
The lady has the Ukrainian international passport:
If the woman already has the Ukrainian foreign passport and she has registration in Donbass then she can easily pass through the territory of Russia and come to Ukraine through the city of Kharkiv and return in the same way. She does not need any additional documents yet.
The lady has the Ukrainian national passport with registration in Donbass but she does not have a Ukrainian international passport.
In this case the lady must come to Ukraine and make the Ukrainian international passport during her stay in Ukraine. That means she can’t leave Ukraine if she doesn’t have an international passport.
The tariffs for the passport in Ukraine:
682 uah – 20 working days
1210 UAH – 7 working days
3000 UAH – 1 working day
So the maximum price for formalizing Ukrainian international passport is 100 eur.
As soon as the lady crosses the Russia – Ukraine borders she violates Ukrainian law because officially the borders with Donbass and Ukraine are closed. This means that at customs she pays a fine of 1,700 UAH or after arriving in Ukraine she can wear a plant and appeal against the government.
Prices for direct transfer from Donbass to Ukraine
Starting price of the direct route from Donbass to Ukraine is 3500 rub (40 eur) Donbass-Kharkiv
As of this writing, Russia is in the coronavirus green zone compared to Ukraine. This means that upon arrival in Ukraine, the lady should not be confined or take a test. If Ukraine falls into the coronavirus red zone, that is, there are more cases per 100,000 inhabitants in Russia than in Ukraine, then the lady must take a coronavirus test in Ukraine or keep confinement for 2 weeks (price of the test is 100 €)
Crossing the border before the pandemic
Before the pandemic, the border between Ukraine and Donbass was open. The price of a direct minibus was 700 to 800 UAH one way.
We strongly advise against entering Lugansk and Donetsk territory, it can be dangerous. You may have problems with the documents and possibly Ukraine may prohibit you from entering its territory.
So what conclusions can we make:
To enter Ukraine from Donetsk or Lugansk, the lady must have an international Ukrainian passport.
If the lady does not have a passport, she has to get one in Ukraine when she crosses the border for the first time. If the lady says she travels to Ukraine periodically, she probably already has a passport.
Total price of the trip:
Travel 3500 rub (compulsory) 40 euros
Illegal border crossing 1700 UAH (4600 rubles) (compulsory) 55 euros
International passport (if you need) is 50-100 euros (depending on time frame)
Coronavirus test (in case Russia is in the red zone) 100 euros (depending on the situation)
We hope that in this article you have found answers to your questions.
The price of a trip from Donetsk and Lugansk is around 100 euros, excluding the coronavirus test and foreign passport.
If you still have questions, if you have any doubts, please contact us at info@ukreine.com
