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I have an EU citizenship and I want to travel by train from Warsaw, Poland to Moscow, Russia. I know that I need both Russian and Belarussian visas, but I have heard from some people that a few months ago there were difficulties during crossing BY-RU border by train, and some people had even got entry refusal.

Has anyone heard of such problems? Is everything okay now or not?

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    at the moment you cant cross the Russia Belarus border as there is no immigration control even if you have Russian and Belorussian visas. When are you going? Russia and Belarus will soon offer a scheme where visas for either country are valid in both, so it will be like the Schengen area. belarusfeed.com/belarus-russia-visa-recognition-rules
    – BritishSam
    Commented Mar 19, 2019 at 15:45
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    Is your train direct or will you change trains within Belarus? It may matter.
    – gerrit
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 12:24
  • @BritishSam Other sources such as linked by mdeweys answer disagree.
    – gerrit
    Commented Jul 10, 2019 at 12:30
  • @gerrit the scheme mentioned in my comment must be running
    – BritishSam
    Commented Jul 10, 2019 at 13:14
  • @BritishSam I have asked here, but reportedly even before this is in force, travellers were allowed on direct trains from EU to Russia. Looks like it's not in force yet (article from today which implies it is not).
    – gerrit
    Commented Jul 10, 2019 at 13:23

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The current position appears to be confused. According to the Man in Seat 61 you can cross the border by train as long as you started outside Belarus (which you state you plan to do) but international travellers cannot pick up a train in Belarus and travel to Russia. You do need the right visas too of course.

https://www.seat61.com/Russia.htm#London%20to%20Minsk

If you do make the journey I am sure he would appreciate feedback.

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Since 2020-07-01, the situation has changed, as Russia and Belarus have signed a visa agreement and should now recognise each others visas. Your Russian visa is now enough to visit or transit Belarus, and you should no longer need a separate visa. See also this answer for more details on the Russia-Belarus border.

Warning as of 2020-07-07: another source in Russian, dated 2020-07-01, states it will take several more months until it actually takes force. These sources contradict each other. Either it's already in force, or it will be soon (and as of July 2020, the 2019-2021 Coronavirus Pandemic means few travellers should make the overland EU-Belarus-Russia trip anyway).

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