From July 1, Ukraine plans to close direct railway connections with Russia, as previously happened with air flights, the Kommersant newspaper writes today, citing its sources from the Ukrainian side.
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“Freight transportation was canceled last week by a decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) - simultaneously with the imposition of sanctions against legal entities and individuals of the Russian Federation, as well as the blocking of Russian social networks and postal services,” the publication recalls.
The official reason for introducing a ban on communication with the Russian Federation is the refusal of Russian Railways to stop transportation on routes connecting Russia with Donbass.
Information about the introduction of the upcoming ban was confirmed to the newspaper by former Deputy Minister of Transport of Ukraine Alexander Kava. According to him, even after a significant decrease in passenger traffic between Ukraine and the Russian Federation there are almost 2 million people a year.
The new ban will hit the Ukrainian side. “These are very profitable transportations for Ukraine, because they are carried out by trains of the Ukrainian formation. The price is four times higher than the domestic Ukrainian tariff,” the expert explained.
According to the newspaper, the Belarusian airline Belavia is already preparing for a further increase in passenger traffic - there will be even more flights from Kyiv to Moscow via Minsk.