Russian children are allowed to travel to Abkhazia and South Ossetia with birth certificates.

Children who are citizens of the Russian Federation under 14 years of age have resumed crossing the Russian border with Abkhazia and South Ossetia with birth certificates indicating their Russian citizenship.

This procedure for crossing the Russian state border with these countries is temporary and will remain in effect until the end of 2027, the Russian Foreign Ministry press service reports.

The ban on children under 14 traveling to the republic without passports is in effect from January 20, 2026. On April 3, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration Sergei Kiriyenko announced that a decision had been made to maintain entry into Abkhazia for children under 14 with a birth certificate until 2026-2027. However, there has been no official information on this until now, Interfax reported today.

Until January 20, Russian children could enter five countries without a passport: Abkhazia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and South Ossetia. The rules have been tightened to combat the illegal export of children using fake or counterfeit birth certificates, Kommersant reports.

Earlier, the Russian Union of Travel Industry reported that this measure had reduced tour bookings to the republic by 10%, and some tourists with children had cancelled their bookings because they did not want to issue passports for them. The Russian Union of Travel Industry appealed to the Minister of Economic Development, Maxim Reshetnikov, and the First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration, Sergei Kiriyenko, with a request to restore the entry of children into Belarus and Abkhazia using birth certificates.

"Caucasian Knot" also wrote that the termination of the issuance of Russian passports and driver's licenses The deregulation of Abkhazia's rights has created inconvenience for residents and could be used in a political struggle against the opposition, whose actions irritate Russia. In mid-February, the Abkhaz president announced an appeal to the Russian authorities to request the resumption of passport issuance in the republic.