Armenian freight carriers are facing mounting difficulties in Russia as Moscow begins enforcing strict new migration limits – a move observers see as a form of political pressure on Yerevan, Armenpress reports.
Under the revised law, citizens of visa-free countries, including Armenia, may now remain in Russia for only 90 days within any 180-day period. Previously, the limit was 180 days per year. Truck drivers who exceed the new threshold are being banned from re-entering Russia for three to ten years, according to the organization Armenian Caritas.
“Russia’s territory is vast – drivers often spend days or weeks waiting at border crossings, unloading and reloading cargo, or repairing vehicles,” said Tatеvik Bejanyan, a migration expert with Armenian Caritas, during a press conference at Armenpress.
“These 90 days expire very quickly. The rule simply doesn’t match the realities of long-haul transport.”
Bejanyan noted that while the rule formally took effect in January, Russian authorities began applying it much more rigidly in September, issuing long-term entry bans to Armenian drivers even for minor over-stays.
“I’ve personally received more than a dozen letters from truckers who were barred from entering Russia,” she said. “In some cases, the violation was only a few days – yet they received a five-year ban.”
The discrepancy between border guards and police enforcement adds confusion: drivers are still being admitted at checkpoints, only to face penalties once inside Russia.
Although the regulation technically affects all countries with visa-free access to Russia – including several Eurasian Economic Union members – it has hit Armenian carriers particularly hard, given the volume of trade and remittance flows between the two countries.
Experts in Yerevan view the timing as political. The enforcement wave began soon after Armenia froze its participation in several CSTO activities and strengthened security ties with Western partners. For many in Yerevan, the crackdown looks less like routine migration control and more like Moscow’s warning shot – a bureaucratic form of retaliation disguised as border policy.
Bejanyan believes the only viable solution is a legislative amendment that would exempt specific professions, such as freight and passenger transport workers, pilots, and flight attendants, from the 90-day rule. She added that because the issue affects multiple EAEU states, “joint pressure through the Union’s committees may be the most effective way forward.”
