On a BMW with German plates, Russian and Soviet flags and crosses: adventures of a Russian who traveled from Germany through Belarus
A Russian, who has lived in Germany since 1999, traveled to Russia through Belarus and immediately encountered several adventures.
Screenshots here and below: vova_gebel/Instagram
Full set of patriotism
The BMW X7, on which Vladimir traveled from Germany to Moscow, looks more like an advertising-patriotic billboard than a vehicle.
On the car's hood is a Russian flag with a coat of arms, and on the windows on the left side, also the Russian tricolor. On the rear window is the USSR coat of arms, and on the windows on the right side, the Soviet flag. Two Orthodox crosses, glued to the front doors, dilute this whole set. And all this on a BMW with German registration plates.
Understanding that traveling through Latvia and Lithuania with such a setup was not an option, as Soviet symbols are prohibited there on par with Nazi ones, the man covered everything except the crosses with black film when he was in the Kaliningrad region.
Attempt number 1
The man failed to enter Belarus via Lithuania. He was not allowed to leave Lithuania because his car was subject to sanctions.
"It's supposedly expensive, large engine volume, a new car... 'We will not take responsibility, even if you are the owner or it's registered to your company.' It doesn't matter, they won't let you through," the man explained in a video from the border.
For an hour, he argued with the Lithuanians, saying that he had recently been to Kaliningrad and that Poland had released this car without problems. But no arguments helped, so he was forced to go back and try to reach Minsk through Poland instead.
56 thousand euros - and you're in
To enter Belarus, he chose not the closest checkpoint to Lithuania, "Bruzgi," nor the slightly further "Berestovitsa," but "Brest."
"Poland, thank God, let me through without problems, I crossed [the Polish border] without obstacles," Vladimir reported.
But on the Belarusian side, things were not so smooth.
The man explained that Belarus has now allegedly introduced a law that Russian citizens must cross the border only with an internal passport that includes a registration address. Otherwise, a deposit (financial guarantee) for a foreign-registered car must be left at the border, amounting to 100% of the customs duty. Vladimir did not have such a passport, only a foreign one, as he has lived in Germany since 1999, having been taken there as a child.
Initially, according to Vladimir, at the Belarusian border, he was offered to leave a financial guarantee amounting to about 56 thousand euros.
"But, thank God, there was an opportunity to negotiate and resolve this issue," he says. The man wrote an explanatory statement at Belarusian customs that he left Russia in 1999 and never had an internal Russian passport.
The entire procedure, including explanations and оформление (processing) of temporary import for the German car, took the Russian citizen about 5-6 hours.
The man says there are no problems with border crossing and advises everyone to use the "Brest" crossing.
Regarding his return, in the same video, Vladimir said that he might go through Lithuania, hoping to encounter the same Lithuanians who had not let him out of Lithuania into Belarus.
But the adventures of the Russian from Germany in Belarus did not end there.
The man exceeded the speed limit on the highway, after which traffic police tracked his BMW using cameras and issued a fine. According to the traveler, the excess was only 15 kilometers per hour.
But this is still minor compared to how the Russian drove around Minsk.
The video shows that, while driving along Independence Avenue, near the circus, the man moves into the far left lane, where he accelerates up to 103 km/h. The speed can be seen on the projection on the windshield.
The Russian really likes Minsk, as well as Lukashenko.
"Minsk is beautiful. 'Father' (Lukashenka) is super class."
Lover of fast driving
As soon as he left the EU, the man removed the black films that covered the Russian and Soviet symbols, so he was speeding through Belarus in his X7 in full camouflage.
It seems that exceeding the speed limit is normal for him.
When the Russian set the route from Minsk to Moscow in his navigator, the video shows him accelerating on the highway to 140-143 km/h.
After driving around Belarus, Vladimir finally bought two jerrycans.
"Before the border with Russia, I bought two 20-liter jerrycans in Belarus. Now I'll fill them up, and then I'll have 40 liters of diesel with me," he boasted in his stories.