Originally Posted by
Razdva
But can you imagine - it's not the case for the Russian citizens flying for example from the USA to Ukraine via Moscow. They MUST pass thru the border and than pass thru the boarder once again. Our government wants to control Russians even in case when they fly in connection flight.
This is true for all foreign citizens, unfortunately, and has to do with the way American airports are construction. Everyone must have a valid visa or come from a country that is part of the Visa Waiver Program to transit the U.S. because we do not separate international and domestic flights in the U.S. So everyone has to go the immigration and customs.
Originally Posted by
hauteboy
What about connections to Belarus (Minsk) via DME? I'd need a visa for BY sure.. but see conflicting info about needing the Russian visa too (though this may only apply to SVO1/2 transfer)
You need a Russian transit visa in addition to your Belorussian visa:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p.../cis_1033.html
U.S. citizens traveling to Belarus via Russia are reminded that they must possess a Russian transit visa in addition to their Belarusian visa.