Estonia reports arrival of first Ukrainians forcibly deported from Mariupol to Russia

"EVROPEYSKAYA PRAVDA" ‒ 1 APRIL 2022, 13:30

At least some of the residents of Mariupol who were forcibly deported to Russia have managed to make it to Estonia, according to a representative of the Estonian coach company. 

Source: Wright Remmel, a spokesman for LuxExpress, to the Estonian broadcaster ERR. Reported by Evropeyskaya Pravda.

Coach travel is currently the only passenger service possible between Estonia and Russia, with LuxExpress, EcoLines, Baltic Shuttle, Anniston and Russian PTK involved in it.

"The proportion of Ukrainian refugees (among their passengers) is growing. They are arriving in Russia from Mariupol and then going on to Estonia via St. Petersburg," Remmel said.

According to him, sometimes these Ukrainians do not have original documents, only scanned copies of passports.

"In such cases, we contact the police and border guards in advance and ask if the Ukrainians will be allowed to cross the Estonian border," he said.

The information that some Ukrainian citizens deported to Russia have managed to get to the EU is confirmed by the representative of another operator, Baltic Shuttle.

"More than 50% of our passengers are refugees from Ukraine who came to Russia from Ukraine and travelled from St. Petersburg by bus to stay here or go on," ERR quoted him.

Neither carrier’s representative has shared figures about how many passengers have taken their buses.