Finns urged to avoid travelling to Russia, Belarus

Finland has urged its citizens to be refrained from travelling to Russia and Belarus following the worsening security situation due to Russia´s attack on Ukraine.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs in separate announcements on Sunday and Monday also urged the Finnish citizen and residents to leave the Russian and Ukrainian border zones of Belgorod, Voronezh and Rostov immediately.

The Finnish authority also warned that travellers to Russia may face various problems such as disruptions to payment transactions.

Using international payment cards or withdrawing cash from ATMs could be impossible as international transfers become more difficult there, said the ministry.

The ministry issued the travel advisory following the Sunday´s decision of the European Union to close EU airspace to Russian airlines in response to Russia´s military attack in Ukraine on February 24.