"Your citizenship means nothing": Ural blogger with daughter detained at Koltsovo airport
Yekaterinburg blogger Alexandra Kotskaya and her little daughter found themselves in an unpleasant situation at Koltsovo Airport. Upon returning from a trip to Kazakhstan, they were detained at the border control zone because the child had a birth certificate and not an international passport, as required by new rules that came into force on 20 January.
The blogger posted a video detailing her ordeal at the airport«s passport control.
Alexandra recorded a video about the situation. According to her, she did not make noise or argue with anyone, but faced rude treatment.
«We did not break the law, we came to our country with documents, and they simply kicked us out of the control line when I started asking, »How long do we have to wait?« Without shouting, without bad words and certainly without swearing. A man came who started threatening to lock me and Eva in the room for those with document problems. And I stood there and said, »Tell me, how long do we have to wait? We have a small child, we have no food, the water will run out, there«s no charger for the heater»,« the blogger said on her page.
It should be noted that the official channel of the migration service of the Russian Interior Ministry clearly states that children under 14 who left the country on a birth certificate before 20 January 2026 will be able to return to the country with that document. Alexandra and her family left Russia on 17 January. The reasons for the difficulties at the border control are unknown.
The editorial office of E1.RU has sent a request to the press service of the border department of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) for the Chelyabinsk region asking for comment on the situation. The news will be updated when we receive a response. The blogger herself, according to her post, plans to file a complaint.
«I tell him (the border control officer), »You understand that we are citizens of the Russian Federation, we returned home with all the documents. We left on a birth certificate when the law didn«t exist! We were let through by everyone, and now we can»t return home?«. And he said, »Your citizenship means nothing«. At least for this phrase I will file a complaint,» Alexandra«s post said.
In the spring, we told who Sasha Kotskaya is and how she became famous, and also published an interview with her. In June, she became a mother for the first time.
