Hi, I am facing a dilemma and would be grateful for your opinions.
I hold a Belarusian passport, live and work in the EU country. My grandma lives in Moscow, and I haven’t visited her for 6 years, all because of the political situation and being worried about the unpredictable actions and decisions of government in my home country. I finally came to visit my family in BY now, and as there is no border between BY-RU, my grandma very much wants me to come to Russia to see her at least for a few days. I want to see her very, very much, and I feel like a bad person for prioritising political reasons over family ones. But I truly feel that it goes against my personal beliefs to go to Russia now, and that it may be not very safe taking into account the news about drones and occasional attacks there. My grandma doesn’t want to travel, so inviting her to visit me is not possible. What would you do in my situation? Obviously, some family members tell me that it’s out of question to go to Russia now because of the security reasons, but others simply tell me that it’s beyond understanding how I can put anything above the idea to see my grandma.
Comments
Well if the russians find out abiut this post, they will probably be happy to give you a few welcoming hugs… with police stick…. in a cel.
Go see grandma. You never know what’s going to happen.
Is there any immediate risk for holders of BY passport for going to russia? Like being drafted or facing any repercussions home?
If no, I’d prioritize visiting your grandmother – you never know how much time you have left together, you will regret not meeting her in the future.
Minimize spending while in russia not to bring money in, if this will make you feel better.
Will you be bringing a lot of hard currency and contribute to the regime by spending tons of your money there, in places that support or benefit from the war of aggression?
If not, your presence as an ordinary citizen, who’s travelling for family reasons, won’t make a difference.
Stay safe.
Jesus, just go there. I don’t know which security reasons you’re worried about, but the biggest security risk will be the reckless drivers on russian roads. I’m in Moscow all the time as an EU citizen because of family and it’s as safe as it gets.
VAT on products you buy will partly go to war efforts but that is pennies in the grand scheme of things and not going to change shit. There’s like 20 million people living and working in Moscow metroplitan region, you going there for a week or two is completely meaningless, economically and morally.
What is not meaningless is seeing your family and friends. Especially with old people every summer might be their last one.
just go, it’s your grandma. the most moral thing to do is to not spend much money except for the necessities. just because there is a war ongoing doesn’t mean you have to cut contact and visits with your family, especially if the border is open.
My family lives in Belgorod and I am French. Couldn’t see my grandma and grandpa because of COVID and then war and they both passed away. Go see your grandma you don’t hold Ukraine’s fate in your hands. Just go see your family.
Tbh. You run the risk of being drafted. Tell your grandma to move her a*** out of Russia and visit you instead. Sry if this sounds impolite
Unless Putin is your grandma she didn’t start the war and cannot end the war. Go see your grandma.
Go see your grandmother before it gets worse…
Then get the fck out of there!
And coming to Belarus, a country with a regime arguably more cruel and violent, than even ours in Russian is okay?
Politics come and go. I don’t agree with the idea of shaping your life around politics like that, when literally no one will care at all, will you come or not to Moscow, but your grandmother. Your decision has very little value to global politics. You will not affect anything here besides your relationship with your family.
And as someone who lives in Moscow i can assure you there no security risks whatsoever, esp with by passport. BY and RU borders are almost nonexistent, they barely check trains.
It depends on how much you like your grandma. You have no obligation to visit toxic people, no matter how much blood/ genes you share.
If you go, maybe bring some items that she would buy anyway as a gift, so you can “offset” whatever you spend there? More for your conscience than anything else.
As for risk, you are in a better position to assess that than any of us.
Go see grandma. She could be drafted in the morning.
Go, wife and kid are in Moscow as we speak to see the family. I, as a eu only passport holder, prefer not to go.
It is as safe as usual
Are you a Russian citizen and are you fluent in Russian?
If you can confidently answer “no and yes” in this order, it still might be risky to visit Russia now, but you are out of the most risk for a foreigner going to Russia right now, if you are vary of every official document they may hand you upon entering the country.
I’m in the go see your grandma camp. If you never see her again you will regret it later.
Mate that’s one of the most valid reasons to visit another country. Absolutely go there. Hope people aren’t too unreasonable towards you about it
Is there a red stamp in your passport about submitting documents for a residence permit? If any case, I recommend that you change your passport for a new one upon arrival in Minsk (especially since you will have to do it sometime anyway). Now, for urgent , the maximum is 10 days, or even a week. Go to grandma’s with a clean passport. If, as sometimes happens, a fit of “love” between dictators happens, and border control is temporarily returned once again, then upon returning to Minsk, change your passport for a new one again, and calmly go home to Europe. At the borders, do not talk too much about where you went. And everything will be fine.
This is a tricky situation. I say is very risky. Because you work/live in an UE country you could be arrested by FSB with spy suspicion.
Visit your grandma. don’t let politics destroy your life.
it’s still relatively safe to visit russia eg. for tourism*, especially if you hold a belarussian passport.
*but to all other redditors, if you arent visiting for family and just for leisure, perhaps pick another country for moral reasons to not leave your money there. but if you visit for family, there isn’t a better choice, you can’t pick a different family and its completely in your right to visit them.
Go there to see your Grandma.
If you’re particularly unsure, try to keep spending as minimal as possible.
Family comes first. Your grandmother won’t be there for ever…
I’d say and insist that anyone going to ruzzia now for the tourist purpose is immoral and needs to touch grass.
Yet your situation is different. You have a limited number of grandmas and only limited time to spend with them.
Go and see your grandma.
It’s not moral, but sometimes you have to. Go visit your grandma.
It is immoral as your Western currency will support the war economy.
If it goes against your beliefs, why do you need validation from random people on the internet? You already went to belarus anyway. Not much better from a moral standpoint you claim to worry about.
Ofcourse go and see your grandma. … and then there is those golden subways, maybe u can see those too. Really beautiful btw, no sarcasm.
Get your family out of krievija 😉
There is no pleasing answer to this, there is no absolution for what this involves.
Best not to spend further thought on the matter, it will shred your soul to pieces presuming you indeed care about morality.
As for the security question…that’s for you to decide. That said if I were your grandmother I wouldn’t want you to risk it. And I would want to escape that hell of a country.
I understand and applaud your moral dilemma.. but if it’s to go see grandma, you get a pass no matter what.
But you should be very very careful while you are there.. you are not safe. You could get stuck, or worse arrested for some made up stuff and even forcibly recruited to go die on the front line.
I fucking hate Russia, but if I were you I’d go without hestitation. You’re going to see your grandma, not to buy russian oil or something. You may not have a second chance to see her.
Belarus is basically a part of Russia at this point. If you had no moral dilemma of entering Belarus, you can enter Russia.
Borders are basically fancy tape the rich pretend matter – right up until there’s a profit to chase, then it melts away like cheap ice cream. Oligarchs jet around, EU keeps pumping in Russian gas, companies route stuff through Kazakhstan with a nod and a wink. Meanwhile you’re supposed to feel guilty for hopping a train to hug your babushka?
Please. One grandkid with a suitcase isn’t fueling any war machine. You’re going for three days of tea, pancakes, and “you look too skinny” lectures. That’s all.
So slip across the Belarus-Russia non-border, keep your phone quiet, skip the Red Square selfie, soak up the grandma time, and slide back before the next drone headline. Governments will go on being hypocrites, gas will keep burning, and your granny will finally get her hug. That’s the only morality that counts here.
As someone who lost her grandma in May, go visit her. You never know how long you will have them in your life, don’t waste your time on political issues, that you can’t directly change.
If there is low physical risk (it is low), go visit your grandmother. It has nothing to do with you supporting the Russian government.
And this is coming from a half Ukrainian.
Go, have time with your family and see the great city.
Unless you can lose your residency in EU country for doing that. Which many EU minors do now.
You can now vote in Russian elections, if you’re not crossing any border you’re gonna be fine. Go visit your grandma
You really need an approval of random redditors for that?