Prague, Aug 4 (CTK) – Czechs should avoid travelling to the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, eastern Ukraine, where fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists continues, and if they are there, they should leave the area immediately, the Foreign Ministry announced yesterday.
“If Czech citizens decide to stay in these localities despite this recommendation, they face an acute risk of detention, seizure of their travel documents and personal property, inhuman treatment and physical harm,” the Foreign Ministry said on its website.
Diplomats point out that the areas that are not controlled by Ukrainian authorities can be entered with a special permit only.
The ministry does not recommend either that Czech tourists travel to the occupied Crimea, including the port of Sevastopol.
“Ukraine allows foreigners to use transit between the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea and the rest of Ukraine through special checkpoints established for this purpose and only on the basis of a special permit. If foreigners attempt to cross such checkpoints without a special permit, they face a risk of penal and financial sanctions,” the ministry said.
Czech diplomacy has also called on citizens to be careful when travelling to other areas in Ukraine, avoid crowded places and not to participate in demonstrations and marches.
All travelers should register in the DROZD database (http://drozd.mzv.cz) before leaving for Ukraine, the ministry says.
Despite of the agreements on ceasefire signed in Minsk in February, the fights between the government forces and separatists continue in eastern Ukraine.
The 20-hour intensive talks of diplomats in Minsk about the end of the fighting were not successful.
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