Agents of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) stationed at the country’s border posts with Estonia are questioning travellers about their attitude towards the EU “which supports the nationalist regime in Ukraine”, independent news outlet Mediazona reported on Wednesday.
Mediazona published photographs of the form, which also asks travellers about their relatives in Russia and Ukraine, their connections to security service employees, and whether they know anyone fighting “on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and/or nationalist formations” in Ukraine.
The form also requires travellers to provide their phone’s IMEI number, which can be used to track the location of a mobile device.
Question #15 is about the traveller’s attitude towards the EU “which supports the nationalist regime in Ukraine”. Photo: Mediazona
Mediazona’s source said that the form was being given “selectively” to certain people entering or exiting Russia and suggested officers may have been targeting dual EU-Russian citizens. The source added that border guards were using a special programme to study travellers’ phones for “keywords” and find even deleted content in checks that lasted around 15 minutes.
