Romanianflyer

Any Ukrainian natives/experts here?

I'm thinking of doing a trip to Ukraine just after Orthodox Easter but I'm a bit puzzled by the colour-coding of Ukrainian regions/oblasts and potential last-minute changes in this. My plan is basically to hop from Romania into Zakarpatia (currently yellow) and travel from there by night train to Zaporozhye (red). From there, I'd ideally take a domestic Motor Sich flight to Kyiv (red) and take a flight later the day back home via Istanbul.

1. What are the chances of intercity railway transport being halted? There is a direct Uzhhorod - Zaporozhye train which was blocked out for weeks because Zakarpatia was in the red zone. What I gathered, there were some limitations about boarding a train from a red zone area, but not the other way around going from a yellow region to a red region. Correct?
2. In a red zone area, are hotels normally working? What about restaurants? I know indoor dining is not allowed, but are there outdoor cafés/restaurants open?
3. Are there any restrictions at all for domestic travel between red zone oblasts? In particular, are there any additional measures in place when flying from Zaporozhye to Kyiv such as PCR tests or other stuff? Or might this in any way turn out problematic/prone to change?

Thanks very much in advance!

pstm91

American here currently in Ukraine, but the restrictions will be pretty much the same for you. Coming in, everyone needs a negative PCR test and the Ukrainian health insurance. They check both and even stamped my insurance, so make sure you have printed copies. It can be in English, Russian, or Ukrainian (you'll receive PDF's via email in all 3 languages).

All of the restaurants are take-out only. Some have outdoor areas but it's primarily high-top tables where you can just stand to eat/drink casually - not actual outdoor dining for sitting and ordering. It seems like they aren't really paying attention to the color system as it's essentially the same everywhere throughout the country. This is the same for cafes and bars. You can find some small ones still operating with indoor service (under the radar) on smaller side streets. You just need to ask locals or wander for a bit and you'll stumble across one.

Inter city travel is operating normally. I wouldn't worry about that changing too much. I've heard quite a bit of talk that restrictions may be eased a bit in the coming weeks but who knows. The hotels are normal except their restaurants are only open for breakfast. Anything else needs to be ordered for in-room dining.

The only thing I can't really help with is domestic flights. Not sure what the procedures there are but should be easy enough to look up on KBP's site or VisitUkraine's site. All of my travel has been by train. Alternatively, renting a car is quite cheap (at least by American standards) - you can do one-way rentals if you rent from one of the big companies.

Romanianflyer

Thanks for the answer! I think as for know I will indeed a few weeks before visiting in the hope of restrictions being eased (given that the infection rate is trending downward) - but it's a relief to hear that the situation seems pretty normal and you can at least grab some food/drink and eat it outside.

pstm91

Waiting a few weeks is a good call. It's "normal" in the sense that people are out and about (very few masks in Kyiv and other big cities, better about it in smaller towns; at least that's been my experience), but everything really is closed and not being able to sit at restaurants is a bummer. Hopefully this will ease up in the next few weeks, especially with Greece reopening today and other European countries setting goals for the same. Plus the weather should be better - it rains almost daily right now in most of the country.

Vekor

The trend for Ukraine currently is to go out of Red Zone, with Western regions being first. In general the covid wave has passed but restrictions will stay for 1 more week and they think about keeping them for Easter as this holiday is a major concern.

There are no internal travel restrictions like pcr tests or whatever. Some trains were canceled, but they are getting back. Air travel usually isn't affected.

Hotels are usually working even in red zone and are allowed to serve breakfasts. Restaurants and cafes in red zone are allowed only to work for takeaway. You may want to eat on their outdoor space or anywhere else, but you will get food packaged for takeaway as they are not allowed to serve you outdoor.

If you're ok with the way restaurants are working, I think that your itinerary should work fine and you will enjoy the trip.

Also, the flights from Chernivtsi to Kyiv have restarted, so you may want to use that option. Prices aren't low, there are 3 flights a week operated by Motor Sich on An24.

vanillabean

Someone I know in Chicago is a Ukranian national and US permanent resident. She’s flying ORD-IST-KBP later this week to visit her resident mother. 1) Will she need Ukrainian health insurance? 2) Will Turkish Airlines let her on the flight without a negative PCR test? She is not sure her result will available in time for departure from ORD; she’s fully vaccinated and has a current antigen test.

Palal

1. No
2. It depends on the Ukrainian requirements for testing. She does not need a PCR test according to this page.

pstm91

As a Ukrainian citizen she does not need the health insurance required for foreigners. It does need to be a PCR test and they check for it as you pass through Immigration at KBP. Everything you need to know is here, https://visitukraine.today/.

My friend's aunt who we are staying with here in Ukraine is a Ukrainian citizen who lives in New York. She also flew to KBP through IST on Turkish, and yes Turkish checked her negative test when she checked in at JFK. It is up to the airline; they could still let her board but they also may deny her. Due to this, she should have the negative test in advance, and it definitely needs to be PCR. They asked both me and the Ukrainian's I was traveling with to point out where it says PCR on our tests.

vanillabean

My acquitance didn’t receive her PCR test result in time for boarding the flight at ORD yesterday and was denied access. She was offered to change to today’s flight free of charge and will since her result came in this morning.

tr3k

Anyone has experience with PCR tests from one country accepted in another?
Planning a "separate ticket" connection (through Spain, when it reopens) to Ukraine, with a BCN-LWO flight on Skyup. Will have a US-issued PCR test (recent, within 72 hrs etc).
Would this, generally, be acceptable? Is this up to the airline?

Romanianflyer

No problems with a Romanian test in MAD.

Just make sure the test is in one of the languages accepted by the Spanish authorities (Spanish, English, French or German - but one in English should not be a problem coming from the US I guess ) and all other demands are fulfilled which are outlined on the Spanish website

https://www.spth.gob.es/faq?tab=2

itfcfan

I'm looking at flying from London to Astana (Kazakhstan) via Kyiv, staying a couple of days in Kyiv.

pstm91, Vekor - thanks for sharing info / your experience on Ukraine. Has much changed since April when this thread started? Has Kyiv opened up much more? Or any extra restrictions?

I'm seeing contradictory information about what kind of test is sufficient for entry. On Visit Ukraine (https://visitukraine.today/) it says either Rapid/Antigen or PCR test is fine (or even being fully vaccinated) while the most recent info I can find on UIA (https://www.flyuia.com/uk/en/news/20...for-foreigners) says a PCR is required. Does UIA require a PCR even if the Ukrainian government allow antigen tests or PCR?

Vekor

As of now there are almost no restrictions in Kyiv. Everything is business as usual. You will have to wear mask indoors, though some restaurants and hotels dropped even this requirement. Some bigger public events have restarted, even indoors.

As for entry requirements, this is a recent change. RAT tests are now accepted, and vaccination cards as well. I think UIA website just wasn't updated in time. VisitUkraine website is more up to date usually.

pstm91

I second this. Stick to the VisitUkraine site. They had updates prior to my trip which were not reflected on the UIA site or even the airlines I flew in/out of (Swiss, TK). Everything is very normal in Kyiv right now.