What documents are needed when traveling to Ukraine

Traveling from Latvia to abroad by plane for the first time in a while, the first surprise was caused by the Riga Airport. The departure hall on the second floor can be entered only through one entrance, at which the security guard not only checks if everyone has a strip of cloth in front of their face, but also requires showing a plane ticket reservation. That is, the airline's invitation to check-in.

I had not experienced anything like this since 2011, when in Mumbai, India, before a further flight to Kochi, our small group was almost prevented from boarding a local flight at the airport, requiring us to present a printed ticket reservation. Every year I have flown to a wide variety of countries, on four continents, and I have never encountered anything like it. Once again, it did not occur to me that this informative page could be requested at the entrance to Riga Airport, the printing of which does not make the slightest practical sense.

However, the time of the Covid has created a whole covidocratic industry, in which the airport security guards also have the pleasure to make people present something, regardless of whether it makes any sense. The main thing is to feel your power - to forbid people from going somewhere, to make people do something.

It goes without saying that at the time of flight check-in, upon receiving a boarding pass, you are required to present either a vaccination certificate or a negative Covid test. If the travel destination is Ukraine, then a travel insurance policy is also required. No matter what kind, but it must state that it also works for Covid-19. This insurance policy must be presented both at the check-in for a flight at Riga Airport and when crossing the border control in Ukraine.

Since I was flying to Kyiv via Warsaw, when flying to Poland, forms are distributed, which must be filled in in detail. You are required to provide not only your personal data, but also the flight and your seat in the cabin of the aircraft, as well as the place of accommodation in Poland. You can guess that the purpose of the questionnaire is to track your movement if you suddenly find out that you have been infected. However, this questionnaire, like much else in the context of a pandemic, is a pure formality for a checkmark. It can be filled haphazardly and may not be filled at all. It can be seen that the flight attendants of the LOT airline who collect these questionnaires are also deeply indifferent to how they were filled in. What later happens to these paper mountains (given how many people come to Poland every day from abroad) is not clear.

In Latvia there is something similar with the Covidpass, which is basically the same questionnaire that is filled in electronically on a smartphone. If someone doesn't have a smartphone, it's better not to fly anywhere. However, the strictness of requesting a Covidpass also depends on the strictness of the airport (from which you fly to Riga) employees. At Warsaw Airport, for those for whom this Covidpass was not available on the telephone, the flight gatekeepers said that they don't truly care, it is your government that demands it. This Covidpass can be filled out quite easily by googling the word - Covidpass - and then following the instructions on the SPKC website, where Google will take you.

In Ukraine, as in Latvia and elsewhere in Europe, the principle of mandatory covering of the airways with a strip of cloth indoors and in vehicles is in force, but it is much less observed than in Riga. The exception is the Kyiv subway, where most of these rules are followed, and some shops insist that buyers must wear the so-called protective masks.

As everywhere else, Ukraine also has its own weird ideas for Covid control. One of them is that menus are missing in cafes and restaurants. At the beginning of the pandemic, it was widely believed that the virus lived on various surfaces for a long time and was easily passed on in tactile contact. Therefore, in many countries, it was mandatory for everyone to wear polyethylene gloves in public places. The thing with Covid restrictions is that they are easily introduced but very slowly lifted. Thus, in Moscow, this requirement to wear gloves everywhere in public places (including on the street and in parks) was abolished only recently. Another thing is that few have complied with this requirement. LOT flight attendants still walk with these gloves on their hands all the time.

In Ukraine, it was thought that the virus could be transmitted from one person to another through menus, so electronic menus were introduced. In cafes and restaurants, there is a QR code on each table, which must be scanned with your phone and the menu can be accessed via an app (which can be downloaded for free). In Ukrainian and English. There are some inconveniences to this procedure, especially at the beginning, when you do not understand what to do, but there are also benefits. Almost all of these eateries have free Wi-Fi, which can be used not only to download menus.

Otherwise, there is no segregation in the public sector depending on whether you have been vaccinated or not. The vaccination certificate did not have to be presented anywhere except at the airport border crossing point. In the very full Kyiv-Lviv high-speed train, only a few passengers had a strip of cloth on their faces, and it was only useful when a ticket controller came and reminded people of the requirement to wear it. The situation was similar in other smaller vehicles (except the metro).

For information. On August 23, 610 new cases of Covid-19 per 42 million people were detected in Ukraine. In Latvia, 73 cases per 2 million inhabitants. In Ukraine, there are fewer cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Consequently, no correlation of the disease with the severity of the restrictions, and especially with the presence of a strip of cloth on the face, is observed. At least in the case of Ukraine.

In summary. To go to Ukraine, you need a document certifying that you have been vaccinated, recovered or have a negative Covid-19 test, but this country also has a compulsory travel insurance policy, which must be presented at all border crossing points.

*****

Be the first to read interesting news from Latvia and the world by joining our Telegram and Signal channels.