SBGS explains why Boris Maskudov's arrival in Ukraine was illegal

The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine often records instances of Russian citizens, namely politicians and mass media representatives, entering Ukraine's temporarily occupied territories illegally. They arrive from Russian territory through the checkpoints closed by Ukraine.

The State Border Guard Service spokesman, Andriy Demchenko, told this to the IMI when asked whether the visit of Russian propagandist Boris Maksudov (who died on November 22) to the occupied territory of Ukraine was a violation of Ukrainian law.

"As such, they violate Ukrainian legislation and stay on Ukrainian territory illegally," he stressed.

At the same time, Andriy Demchenko reminded that due to Russia's aggression in 2014 and with the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, the Ukrainian government closed down the border checkpoints within the occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, as well as on other sections of the border with Russia and Belarus.

"No border control measures which would allow legal entry to Ukrainian territory are carried out there," he emphasized.

The SBGS spokesman also noted that violating the law on Ukraine's state borders or the procedure for entering the temporarily occupied territories or crossing the border entails criminal or administrative liability.

"Such violations are considered an illegal crossing of Ukraine's state border; moreover, in this way foreigners violate the rules of staying on the territory of Ukraine and, accordingly, are in Ukraine illegally," Demchenko stressed.

As the IMI reported, the Russian propagandist, so-called war correspondent for "Rossiya 24", Boris Maksudov, died on the way to the hospital after coming under fire in Zaporizhzhia oblast.

According to the Telegram channel Baza, Maksudov was filming a video about the motorized rifle regiment No. 503 near Myrne village on the afternoon of November 22, when an explosive device was dropped on them from a drone. The man received multiple shrapnel wounds, open fractures of his limbs, and lost his fingers.

According to the propagandist's YouTube channel, he has illegally been to Crimea, Donetsk oblast, and Chornobyl. All checkpoints on the Ukraine–Russia border are currently closed.

Boris Maksudov posted the results of his work on Vkontakte, calling Ukraine "in its current form" a "threat" and a "geopolitical callus and a tumor."

In his opinion, Crimea was the "Russian spring" and the Donbas was the "Russian fall". At the same time, he expected a "Russian winter" in Europe. "It better not be a nuclear one," he added.