MOSCOW, March 28. /TASS/. Russia’s government has ordered to suspend crossings via automobile, railway, pedestrian and other border checkpoints, including on the border with Belarus, the Russian government said in a statement on Saturday.

"Russia’s Transport Ministry alongside the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the Russian Customs Service and Rospotrebnadzor [Russia’s consumer safety regulator] should suspend crossings via automobile, railway, pedestrian, river and other checkpoints of the state border of the Russian Federation, as well as across the land section of the Russian-Belarusian state border, starting at 00.00 Moscow time on March 30, 2020," the statement says.

The ban does not cover Russian diplomats, employees of Russia’s diplomatic missions and consular offices and of Russia’s official missions at international organizations, and officials of the Standing Committee of the Union State of Russia and Belarus as well as their family members. In addition, Russian citizens who are drivers of international haulage trucks, the crews of river vessels, international railway crews, along with Russian citizens who leave Russia because of close relative’s death, Russian citizens who live in the Kaliningrad Region and travel to the region on transit trains, Russian citizens who live in some areas of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk Regions and other persons are not subject to the restriction.

The Russian consumer safety regulator and its regional bodies are instructed to implement sanitary and quarantine measures after above mentioned persons cross into Russia.

Authorities of the regions where border crossings are located are ordered to facilitate the implementation of this resolution and explain the restrictions to the local population.

Flights suspended

On March 27, Russia suspended all international regular and charter flights. Air carriers are allowed to only evacuate Russians home. However, the ban does not cover freight, postal, sanitary and humanitarian flights.