Ukraine introduces biometric control at border
As of January 1, 2018, Ukraine has launched a system of recording biometric data of foreigners.
From now on, citizens of 71 different countries, including Russia, will have to be fingerprinted – all five fingers – for identification at the Ukraine border, and they will have to give advance notice about the purpose of their stay.
“We will cover all the stationary checkpoints, and then later, small checkpoints of local significance. These databases allow us to enter the ten countries with the best verification of those who cross the border. Even now, Ukraine is among the top ten countries in terms of the number of requests and responses with Interpol databases. This will give us a better guarantee that individuals with criminal intentions won’t enter our country,” Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on Facebook.
In turn, the State Border Guard Service notes that there will not be biometric checks of Russian citizens at the checkpoints along the demarcation line in eastern Ukraine. The visitors will not be able to cross the control points if they come from an uncontrolled territory of Ukraine.
Also, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine noted that biometric control on the administrative border with Crimea will not be required for citizens of Ukraine who live on the peninsula.
Biometric control at the border has been in a trial period at the border since December 27.