The Lugansk People’s Republic State Customs Committee has begun to shut down the customs terminals on the administrative border with Russia’s Belgorod, Voronezh and Rostov regions, the LPR SCC press office said.

“On October 10, 2022 the LPR government adopted a resolution on shutting down the checkpoints. In this connection, the SCC launched the procedure to dismantle the customs terminals “Melovoye,” “Prosyanoye,” “Tanyushevka,” Lantratovka”, Krasnaya Talovka, Izvarino, Chervonopartizansk, Dolzhansky and Krasnaya Mogila,” Head of the LPR SCC Customs Control Department Roman Terekhov said.

The internal customs terminals “Lugansk,” “Alchevsk,” “Antratsit,” and “Sverdlovsk” continue to perform export/import operations with goods from third countries.

Earlier, the Russian Federal Customs Service said that customs authorities, as part of security measures, provided assistance to the Border Service of the Federal Security Service by checking personal items and vehicles with inspection equipment.

The LPR State Customs Committee said that the customs border between the LRP and Russia acquired the status of administrative border on October 5.

Rostov region governor Vasily Golubev said that Russian customs bodies had stopped customs clearance operations at the regional checkpoints.

The Lugansk People’s Republic joined Russia on September 30, 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin and LPR Head Leonid Pasechnik signed an agreement on the Republic’s accession to Russia. Earlier, the LPR held a referendum at which more than 98 percent of LPR residents supported reunification with Russia.*i