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Foreigners Now Need Russian Visa to Visit Crimea

A Russian visa will have to be obtained from a Russian Embassy in order to enter Crimea, the Foreign Ministry said. Wikicommons

Foreigners will need to hold a Russian visa to enter Crimea, and those already there will have to contact Russian authorities for information on how to exit, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"Following the reunification of Crimea and Sevastopol with the Russian Federation, a foreign citizen will need to receive a Russian visa in one of the diplomatic or consular missions of the Russian Federation in order to enter Crimea," the ministry said in a statement carried by Itar-Tass.

Foreigners who arrived earlier without visas under Ukrainian law, including journalists reporting about Russia's annexation of Crimea, will need to contact the Russian Foreign Ministry's office in Simferopol if they wish to leave, the ministry said Monday.

The statement did not say what procedures, if any, foreigners would have to go through to exit.

Under Ukrainian law, citizens of the U.S. and EU countries are not required to have visas to visit Ukraine for up to 90 days.

The Foreign Ministry's office in Simferopol is located at 31 Odessakaya Ulitsa, and its telephone numbers are: +38 (0652) 24-82-17, 24-82-19; and +38 (050) 324-3260.

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