Russian travel blogger Valentina Khlistun was handcuffed and deported from the United States after landing in New York, according to Russian Telegram channel Shot.
According to Khlistun, she was pulled aside for additional screening as soon as her flight landed and was interrogated three separate times, with the sessions together lasting 25 hours. She said officers questioned her about possible ties to the Russian government and accused her of providing false information.
Officials confiscated her phone, passport, money and jewelry, took her fingerprints and a DNA sample, and photographed her for a mugshot, Khlistun said. She was then handcuffed and placed in a police car.
18-Hour Wait and a Five-Year Ban
Khlistun said she then waited 18 hours before being deported. Her phone was returned only just before she boarded her flight back to Russia, and her documents were handed back after she arrived home. Her US visa was cancelled, and she was barred from entering the country for five years.
Shot is a Russian Telegram channel that regularly reports breaking news, often drawing on accounts from those directly involved in the events it covers.
EU Countries Divided Over Visa Rules for Russians
Separately, several tourism-dependent countries in the European Union have pushed back against tightening visa rules for Russian travelers, concerned that doing so could cost them an important source of income.
Officials in those countries pointed to the experience of Finland and the Baltic states, which suffered significant financial losses after closing their borders with Russia and refusing visas to Russian citizens. That example is said to have shaped some countries' decisions to avoid similar visa disputes with Russia.
The EU has restricted the issuance of tourist visas to Russian citizens since 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, making travel to the bloc considerably harder for ordinary Russian tourists.
