Russia Intensifies Surveillance at Belarus Border Crossings With Expanded Data Collection

Russian border guards have implemented a stricter inspection system at the border with Belarus, effective immediately before the early May holidays. This timing correlates with preparations for large-scale military parades on May 9, suggesting a strategic move to bolster security.

According to the human rights group MAYDAY.TEAM, officials began photographing passports of all border crossers on April 30.

Authorities claimed this was due to an increase in tourism. By May 5, these strict measures remained in place, but the way officials process information has changed. Activists report that data is now being entered into Excel spreadsheets.

Border service employees have told travelers that they have orders to keep a constant record of foreigners entering Russia and Russians leaving the country. These specific groups must undergo additional checks where their personal information is recorded.

At the same time, Belarusian citizens leaving Russia usually cross the border faster and often do not have their information added to the spreadsheets.

Since March of this year, Russians have reported being blocked from leaving the country following the launch of an electronic military summons registry. On April 27, the Movement of Conscientious Objectors reported that a conscript from St.Petersburg was prevented from flying abroad from Belarus.

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The group noted that this was the first time such an incident had happened. The individual had received a summons for April 29, and a travel ban appeared in the electronic registry.

Two days later, the State Border Committee of Belarus officially confirmed that Minsk has launched a shared database with Russia. Because of this new system, Russian citizens who are banned from traveling can no longer leave through the Belarusian border. Regarding the current procedures, observers stated that officials are «photographing passports and entering data into a table.»

Earlier, it was reported that Russia had started blocking military-aged men from leaving the country after electronic draft notices appeared in its new digital conscription registry, with the case reported involving a 28-year-old stopped at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.

The man said a travel ban was already shown in the state system under his name, and border officers told him it could not be lifted at the airport.

Officials told him only an in-person visit to his local draft office could remove the restriction.

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