Фото: Госпогранкомитет
Belarus’ State Border Committee said it is ready to facilitate simplified border crossings for Ukrainian residents wishing to visit Belarusian forests. The committee said it had received the relevant instructions from Aliaksandr Lukashenka.
“Guided by the principles of friendship and good-neighbourliness and taking into account the needs of ordinary people, Belarus, on the instructions of the President of the Republic of Belarus, is developing mechanisms that will allow Ukrainian citizens, in keeping with a long-standing tradition, to visit border areas to gather mushrooms and berries in previously designated locations,” the State Border Committee said.
The measure concerns the territory of the Almany Swamps national landscape reserve in the Stolin district.
“This practice has been implemented for several years in response to the interest of residents of the neighbouring country’s border regions. This category of Ukrainian citizens will be able to cross the border through three simplified crossing points — Mutvitsa, Khinichev and Selishche — in the directions of the Ukrainian villages of Drozdyn, Berezove and Poznan in Rivne region, respectively. The relevant information has been conveyed to the Ukrainian side through diplomatic channels,” the committee added.
This is not the first time Belarusian authorities have made such declarations since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For example, in the summer of 2022, the State Border Committee announced that residents of Sarny district in Ukraine’s Rivne region could visit the Almany Swamps reserve to gather wild berries and mushrooms.