KIEV, May 7 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian news crew with the TVTs channel has been turned away by Ukrainian border guards without an explanation, Ukraine’s 1+1 channel reported Wednesday.
According to 1+1, the team of Russian journalists from Moscow landed at the Borispol airport in Kiev, Ukraine to cover the runup to the upcoming presidential election on May 25. The vote has been criticized by Russian officials as untimely given the ongoing violence in the country.
The TVTs crew, led by Vera Kuzmina, said they had been kept waiting for several hours at the airport before being told they could not enter the country. The reporters said they had all required documents, including press cards, editorial credentials and return tickets.
The news came a week after the Ukrainian border authorities introduced an “entry denied” travel passport stamp for unwanted foreigners.
Scores of journalists and crews from about a dozen Russian news outlets have been barred from Ukraine since a coup in February ushered in a nationalist regime in the country. The Border Guards cited a lack of sufficient travel funds to enter the country in denying many of them entry.
