You can cross the Ukraine-Russia border by car only at special checkpoints. You will pass customs successfully and find yourself in another state, only if you submit all the necessary documents and do not violate the list of things allowed for transportation.
Approaching the border checkpoint for cars from the side of Ukraine, a border officer will come up to you before entering and preview the availability of documents.
List of required documents
To cross the border by car, you will need your valid passport and passports of passengers. An international passport for citizens of Russia and Ukraine is not required when crossing the Ukrainian-Russian border.
If minors are traveling with you, you will need their birth certificates and documents confirming the citizenship of the children. It should be noted that minors are allowed in only with one of the parents; in other cases, a notarized power of attorney is required to transport the child across the border.
You will definitely need a technical passport for the car. To cross the border by car, or rather to transport a car, only its owner has the right. In other cases, a general power of attorney is required for the right to drive a car.
If you do not have a general power of attorney, and the car is registered to a passenger, for example, a wife who travels with you and forgot her driver's license at home, then it is better for her to get behind the wheel. The driver's license is not checked at the checkpoint, but only the owner is allowed to transport the car.
When crossing the border, in order to keep track of the movement of people, it is necessary to fill out immigration cards. If you are a citizen of Russia, then such a form must be filled out at the Ukrainian border. If you are a citizen of Ukraine, then an immigration card will be required at a Russian checkpoint. The immigration card contains the passport data of citizens and the vehicle.
If the preliminary examination of the documents satisfied the border officer, he raises the barrier and you enter the territory of the special checkpoint. Here again, they carefully check the documents, make a registration record in the database about your crossing the border, as well as the import or export of a vehicle, and inspect the car and all things.
Inspection
Inspection of the car and your belongings is carried out by border and customs officers. First, they ask verbally about what you are transporting and whether there are goods prohibited for transportation.
The list of prohibited items is quite extensive. Its main items are weapons, drugs and antiques. It is still impossible, without special documents, to transport many food products across the border and animals. Some products have import restrictions. So, for example, alcoholic beverages are allowed to transport no more than one liter per person.
After the oral conversation, the car is carefully inspected with the help of special mirrors and video cameras. Trained drug detection dogs are often involved in searches.
If you passed the inspection successfully, then you are allowed to leave the Ukrainian checkpoint towards the Russian border. At a Russian security checkpoint, you will have to go through a similar procedure, with the difference that the documents must be accompanied by a compulsory car insurance policy, which is valid on the territory of the Russian Federation.
