"Location jumps to completely different places, with a car it would be screwed." What Belarusians visiting Russia say

Many Belarusians note that Russia currently has significant problems with access to free internet.

Katsiaryna Hlavinskaya from Minsk, who traveled to Smolensk, describes her impressions with the words "recovering from shock":

"The internet barely works, only 30 allowed websites. It's a good thing I went by train, because with a car it would have been completely screwed. The route doesn't plot, my location jumps to completely different places, and you need to go somewhere from the station, but you can't get there at all. I had to ask people on the street for directions."

When she had to go home from Smolensk, Katsiaryna almost missed her train: she set a route to the station in the navigator, but it led her to a completely wrong place. The woman had a VPN, but it didn't work either.

If maps don't work, how do you get around the city? And it's not that simple, writes the Belarusian woman:

"I rode the trams, it's good that there are only four lines, two of them main ones. You can't call a taxi by location. And standing and waving to everyone passing by with checkered signs — that's quite a story."

Teacher Kristina Gubarevich adds to the picture:

"The last few visits have become absolutely uncomfortable, even roaming has stopped working. The blocking is daily: if before you clicked a link and the blocking was easily removed, now it constantly gives an error, and at best you'll be able to remove the restrictions by evening.

Павялічыць

Connecting to Wi-Fi is difficult, authorization fails. Calling a taxi without internet is difficult, calls only go through on the tenth try and get cut off."

Otherwise, Kristina writes, travel conditions are normal. But she specifies that one should only travel to Russia by train and should not take children.

Predictably, no fewer problems arise during travel due to the search for fuel. Blogger Sviatlana Paulyuchenka decided to drive her diesel car to Saint Petersburg and prudently took 50 liters of fuel in canisters with her.

She left for Russia on July 11:

"To avoid searching for a gas station in Russia, we decided to fill up the tank in Polotsk. We crossed the border in just 15 minutes. They checked our trunk, saw the canisters, no questions asked.

Filling up in Belarus was the best decision, because the very first gas stations on the way [in Russia] were empty. Others had diesel fuel, but no gasoline. There are largely no problems with diesel fuel there, but with gasoline, it's a complete disaster."

Sviatlana recalls long queues at gas stations and limits on fuel quantity.

Павялічыць

Alena Salodkaya from Minsk found herself in Russia because she decided to fly to Vietnam via Moscow. She advises against doing this, as there is a significant chance of flight delays.

"Yes, it is very unpleasant to arrive in Moscow from Minsk, from a very small, as it turns out, but non-belligerent city, and to see this luxury, glitter, and beauty, which captivates and at the same time horrifies, because you understand: here is a war, and this is how it, apparently, captivates people.

"And then you arrive in Vietnam and see very kind, tolerant Vietnamese people who for centuries were [in fact] colonies of others — Chinese, French, Soviet, American. And a comparison with Minsk, forgive me, suggests itself," writes Alena.

A TikToker with the nickname lisapavlovna_ traveled for a week from Minsk to Moscow. The girl's impressions strongly differ from what other Belarusians write — for example, she notes that Moscow cafes sell low-quality desserts made without soul. The Belarusian woman assures that these sweets in Moscow are often stale, too sweet, or have an artificial taste.

Another impression concerns the most basic food:

"I don't quite understand the pricing policy. That is, essential products, basic for survival — eggs, cottage cheese, some other damn thing — it all costs more than in Belarus."

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