Ukrainian border guards have been accused of stamping a Russian man’s passport with the phrases “Russian warship, go f*** your self”.
Igor Zabotin says he was turned away on the Romania-Ukraine border on 15 August and had his stamp marked with the phrase.
The phrases had been famously stated by Ukrainian border guards on Snake Island on the very begin of Russia’s invasion in February. The boys prompted worldwide consideration by swearing and defiantly refusing a Russian warship’s calls for to give up.
Zabotin shared photographs on Fb of his Russian passport, and an undated stamp with Cyrillic phrases on the web page subsequent to his identification particulars.
He says that the stamp was added to his doc by “Ukrainian border forces” when he tried to cross the Porubne/Siret checkpoint within the southern Ukrainian area of Chernivtsi.
“I left the Ukrainian border in spite of everything procedures and earlier than Romanian customs, I ready my papers and opened my passport,” he informed Euronews.
“No person informed me something on the Ukrainian border. Militaries or customs, I do not know who did [it] precisely.”
The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine has not responded to Euronews’ requests to touch upon this case.
In one other publish on Fb, Zabotin says he was initially denied entry to Romania due to a visa situation.
“I handed the primary [border post] alive and effectively. The second, [I] was not allowed in, regardless of all official statements that they might let in third-country nationals with Ukrainian residence permits and who had been there through the struggle.”
He then says that he was made to “spend the evening” between the 2 nations borders — paying homage to the Tom Hanks movie “The Terminal”.
“The Ukrainian customs officers took my passport and informed me to spend the evening close to the duty-free store at their checkpoint,” he added on Fb. “A Ukrainian border guard got here up and despatched me to a impartial strip.”
Zabotin informed Euronews that he has since crossed into Romania by way of one other border publish and is “protected” and is making use of for “momentary safety”.
Romanian Border Police have informed Euronews that the stamp was not utilized to Zabotin’s passport by their guards.
“In case a overseas citizen who doesn’t meet the authorized circumstances for entry into the nation … the particular person in query shall not be allowed to enter the nation and shall be given a type stating the explanations for the measure and methods to attraction,” a press release learn.
Additionally they confirmed on Twitter that they didn’t apply the Cyrillic stamp, dispelling on-line misinformation.
‘There isn’t a Nazism in Ukraine’
Zabotin now works in web advertising and marketing after beforehand being employed with the unbiased Russian media, The Moscow Occasions.
He states that he moved to Ukraine from Barnaul, Russia, in 2015 and has been residing there legally for seven years.
Following Russia’s invasion, he has tried to go away the nation however says he grew to become trapped between Romania and Ukraine. He has additionally shared anti-war posts on social media that contradict Russia’s claims about Ukraine.
“The truth that I drove via central and western Ukraine with Russian quantity plates is direct proof that there isn’t a Nazism right here and there was no cause to begin this struggle,” he wrote on Fb.
“There isn’t a Nazism in Ukraine, by no means was and by no means will probably be, regardless of how arduous the Kremlin propagandists strive,” he added.
The Kremlin had claimed that it launched a “particular navy operation” in Ukraine to “demilitarise” and “denazify” the nation.
Russian residents face heavy fines or as much as 15 years in jail in the event that they deliberately share so-called “faux information” concerning the nation’s navy, or its entities overseas.
