With the outbreak of the war, Ukrainians were forced to evacuate from their cities to safer regions of Ukraine. In the majority — to the west of Ukraine: Lviv, Chernivtsi. However, many Ukrainians were cut off from the evacuation routes by the Russian occupation forces. Such people had to travel to Russia to get from there to Estonia, Finland, and Latvia. The same hopes were cherished by Ukrainians who were forcibly deported to Russia.
The Estonian Ministry of internal affairs reports that the Russians are preventing Ukrainians from leaving Russia. To do this, they use their favourite method — abduction. According to the Estonian MIA, more than 1.000 Ukrainians "disappeared" at the Russia-Estonia checkpoint: the Russians forcibly pushed into trucks (attention: a truck is a vehicle not intended for transporting people) Ukrainians standing in line to cross the border and took away in an unknown direction.
"Trucks arrived, they (Ukrainians — ed.) were put into trucks and taken away. Where they went, where they are, we do not know. Currently, the police and security are working to collect this information," Estonian minister of internal affairs Lauri Laanemets.
The MIA of Latvia confirms the same information. The FSS can hold Ukrainians hostage for up to 6 days. Representatives of consular offices are watching to see if Russians are pushing Ukrainians to cross the border illegally.
