LOT refuses boarding!!!!!

[lonedrake]

My Wife worked very hard, long days earning about three or four times as much money as I did during the same period of time. She is using all money that she earned to build our new home. She is acting as her own general contractor, for anyone who knows anything about construction.

 Your wife sounds like a go-getter

 Hopefully you are able to communicate better with her than you do on here.  If she makes 3-4 times as much as you did during that period.....it means nothing. Maybe you made 100.00 a month? So she made 300.00-400.00.....hardly enough to build a house. Now if you made 5,000.00 per month and she made 15,000.00-20,000.00 a month........what  does she do? How is it possible? and if she made so much....why are you buying tickets?

Did you ever call LOT?

[die_cast]

The men on the expatua forum who live in Crimea are plenty worried!
 ...
Now, the cost of living will increase there.

Well, Crimea is not a place for expats who want to have a nice cheap life. Crimean economics is in the doldrums. Crimea is for Crimeans, and they have a right to have better life. If Crimea would join EU as a part of Ukraine, expats would get the same result, the cost of living there would still increase, sooner or later, but it would happen.

[die_cast]

what  does she do? How is it possible? and if she made so much....why are you buying tickets?

Good question!  I'm curious too. 

[die_cast]

Does anyone know about land ownership in Russia for non-Citizens? For Ukraine, there is a restriction on farm land, but you could own a flat or dacha.
 
Also, Ukraine is just going to start having property taxes. What about Russia?

Non-citizens can't buy the land and can't own it. They can take land on lease.
And we have taxes.  For now property taxes are quite small, as they are not attached to the market.

[Rob5939]

If my wife had a just had a stroke, I'd be on the first plane to Ukraine. Something here does not smell right......

I have read this forum-drama entirely and can't help thinking the same.

Wayne, have you spoken to anyone at the hospital ?

A doctor ? (Involved in her care) a nurse? A hospital admin ?

Also, Im not a doctor but I am in the medical business and my understanding is right sided of the brain stroke effects the left side of your body. Right sided strokes effect the ability to speak and communicate.   But you mention in your post that her right side is being affected, Hmmmmm.... You may want to google "left sided stroke" and "right sided stroke". The statements you have spoke of your wife's condition don't seem to add up. I would be demanding medical diagnosis and prognosis upon first word of my wife's attack. Have you done this ?

It just seems to me (hope I'm wrong) there are more unanswered questions than there are REAL answers.

When you toss in previous deceptions as posted in this thread hairs on the back of my neck begin to tingle and send alarms to my gut that says, "WTF.... is really going on here ?"

The fact that you are here and not pounding your fist on someone's desk over there (embassy or airlines) with your wife at your side also is telling of other possible issues. Again, I hope I'm wrong but I'm just wondering if your wife is possibly liking the Russian changes in Crimea and Isn't making a case to just stay..... Possible ?

Peace

[Wayne]

I just checked the Simferopol Airport 'Online Flights Board" Still, the only flights operating are to and from Moscow SVO and DME. All flights to and from Kyiv and Istanbul are cancelled. There is no telling when flights will start up again.
 
So it looks like Russia is in complete control of who can travel to or from Crimea. Trains are not working. On the roads from Crimea to Ukraine, Russian forces have installed land mines on both sides of the road to keep people from driving around the check point.
 
In a few days, anyone from Crimea with a Ukrainian passport will not be allowed to travel.
 
Banks are closed. People are not working. Stores are running out of food.
 
The only somewhat good news is the doctors give my wife a 80% chance to recover the use of her right arm and hand. She is an internationally known Artist.

[GQBlues]

Well Wayne-

FWIW, I'm happy to hear your wifey have the 80% chance for full recovery of her arm.

Man dude...your wifey's a busy woman. She's a General Contractor who happens to be an Internationally known artist, a plane crash survivor, and now may likely become a displaced Ukrainian/political refugee as well. And one who may have lost a US Permanent Residency immigration privileges.

Can she cook, too?

...
The only somewhat good news is the doctors give my wife a 80% chance to recover the use of her right arm and hand. She is an internationally known Artist.

[Wayne]

She cooks just fine. You forgot to add that she has traveled to many different countries, starting from when she was a child.

[Wayne]

Getting back on topic, wife purchased airplane tickets from a local Ukrainian travel agency and paid cash. When she gets out of the hospital, she could go to this agency, show them the evidence that I emailed to her from the US Embassy stating that LOT was at fault, and try to get some compensation.
 
Now, if I had chosen the flights and purchased the tickets, it would have been KLM from Kyiv to Amsterdam, then Delta to Detroit. KLM and Delta are codeshare companies and you can purchase tickets from either of them or some on-line agency. If you pay with a credit card, the credit card company might help you out if there was a dispute like this.
 
When I made my first over seas trip many years ago, you not only needed a visa to enter Ukraine, but you had to purchase paper tickets. I used the AAA travel service to buy tickets, but they could not get paper tickets on the small Ukrainian airlines to get you to Crimea, so I took Turkish Airlines from Istanbul. If you were to change planes in Moscow, you needed a double entry transit visa. I don't know if that has changed?

[Jumper]

Over 500 Ukrainians have left Crimea recently- through the established check points.
If she's healthy enough for travel, and wants to travel,
 there are means of leaving.

[mies]

Wayne-
 Have you checked the train or bus schedules out of Kiev ,Kharkov, or Odessa?It is very unlikely they are all shut down to Crimea?
It is a large peninsula, with no huge reserves of product, and products and people have to be going back and forth daily.

They were shut down before the referendum. All vehicles that tried to enter Crimea before the "Referendum" were searched, about 20 people who were not local (ukrainians) were abducted & tortured jointly by the crimean armed "self-defense", Berkut, and Russian military.

Trains weren't canceled but foreigners arriving by trains were scrutinized too, and several ukrainians, even local Crimean residents, were abducted from the train stations & tortured.

[mies]

 I've been through the road check points , it was nothing.
Sure it might be more stringent now, but i'd really doubt  they'd turn down a US citizen with valid docs and reason to be traveling there.

They may in fact not only turn down the US citizen, but "arrest" him and take to the russian military prison as an "American spy".

Listen to the news about Russia and USA.

[Jumper]

They may in fact not only turn down the US citizen, but "arrest" him and take to the russian military prison as an "American spy".

Listen to the news about Russia and USA.

Mies, If traveling there I'd be cautionary of course,and only in some dire need.
I was certainly not recommended he should fly off there foolhardily
 When leaving, I've actually been held ,taken and questioned before as i did not have an entry stamp.

 My point was his wife, if shes healthy to travel, is a  native,
it seems worth investigating that she  could in fact travel by now.
 I would lay odds very strongly that as a native Ukrainian from Crimea,
if she was healthy , and wanted to go to Odessa,or Kiev,  she could.

What he could do from that point regarding her elapsed GC /AP is another matter. Remember the stories are myriad that have not made complete sense in this case.

 As far as news, having tread in the past in more conflicted areas, and seen the news hyperbole from both sides, I do not put much faith in any media source.That's just me.

[Wayne]

The Russian embassy has answered my emails. According to them, an American Citizen would need a visa to enter Crimea. For a private, in home visa, it would be a process like it was years ago for Ukraine. My wife would have to get an official invitation letter and mail it to me. This would take a long time!

Now remember, the mail system is not even working now in Crimea! She might be able to use something like DHL.

Some of the banks are supposed to open on 1 April. They will probably have a limit on how much you can take out.

I talk to my wife every day on the phone, as her cell phone still works for now. All the Ukrainian companies are getting taken over by Russian companies.

I called Turkish Airlines. The man said they would resume their flights to Simferopol starting 30 April. I think you can get a Turkish visa online. Has anyone done this?

[Jumper]

Wayne-
She is Ukrainian correct?
Turkey is a popular holiday destination for several reasons, one being its visa free.

Turkey   Visa not required   
             (if  max stay of 60 days-required if stay is 60+ days)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_Ukrainian_citizens


http://www.timaticweb.com/cgi-bin/tim_website_client.cgi?SpecData=1&VISA=&page=visa&NA=UA&AR=00&PASSTYPES=PASS&DE=TR&user=KLMB2C&subuser=KLMB2C


Obviously verify this, but if shes not staying in Turkey longer than 60 days and has the flight tickets , and hotel vouchers to show it, I see no reason she'd need one.

[mies]

Mies, If traveling there I'd be cautionary of course,and only in some dire need.
I was certainly not recommended he should fly off there foolhardily
 When leaving, I've actually been held ,taken and questioned before as i did not have an entry stamp.

 My point was his wife, if shes healthy to travel, is a  native,
it seems worth investigating that she  could in fact travel by now.
 I would lay odds very strongly that as a native Ukrainian from Crimea,
if she was healthy , and wanted to go to Odessa,or Kiev,  she could.

What he could do from that point regarding her elapsed GC /AP is another matter. Remember the stories are myriad that have not made complete sense in this case.

 As far as news, having tread in the past in more conflicted areas, and seen the news hyperbole from both sides, I do not put much faith in any media source.That's just me.

I see. Yes, I suppose the Crimean native could leave Crimea (up until the last week) provided she still had the Ukrainian passport. I doubt it would be too easy for her to enter back into Crimea, unless she already has the Russian passport.
The whole Crimea-Russia-Ukraine story is a huge mess.

1) Russia gives Russian passports/citizenships to Crimean residents, but takes away & destroys their Ukrainian passports
2) Technically, Russians do not need visa to enter Ukraine, but they do need a passport. Plus in the last week there are different reports about traveling experience. Some people say they travel without a problem to-from Crimea. Other people have different experience. Some say that road checkpoints are closed now.
3) If you go to the web site of the USA embassy in Ukraine - there is a message on top of the web site that the Embassy closed in Crimea all "offices" (about 5-7 total) where they used to collect documents for visas.
4) Russia recognized Crimea as "independent state", but the residents of Crimea didn't vote on the referendum for  being an independent state - they voted for being annexed to Russia. Russia, however, cannot annex the territory unless this territory is an independent state. So Russia declares Crimea an independent state, but in reality treats is as the annexed territory - for example, it started paying the pensions and social payments to Crimean residents, it takes down all Ukrainian flags on government and academic institutions and raises the flags of Russia. Occupies all military bases and naval academies, etc etc. Starts giving directives on the land use and land ownership. And here is a very tricky situation for regular land/house owners. I presume that unless they obtain/claim Russian citizenship - they may run into problems with their properties being owned by a "foreigner" (a Ukrainian owning a property on Russian territory), whereas if they claim Russian citizenship and by some sheer miracle Crimea returns to Ukraine - then they run into an identical problem of being a foreign landowner (which implies significantly higher property taxes, or in some cases - they can be stripped of their property - if the property is in the category which is not allowed to be owned by foreigners).

I suspect that Wayne's wife could have had a stroke or heart attack because of all this stress and transitions. i also suspect that maybe she decided that she first needs to figure out what to do with the citizenship in her own country, since they decided to spend retirement years there. Perhaps she decided that she cannot abandon the country at this time, because while she would be in USA, she will lose her property and investments in Crimea, and that unless she obtains a Russian passport - she won't be allowed to return to Crimea. But if she obtains a Russian passport - would this have any implications for her current Green Card? I don't know. After all, her primary citizenship is/was "Ukrainian", now what if she has to change it to "Russian". Who knows what's going on there/in her life.

And we all need to understand and remember that Russia and Putin personally created this mess.

[mies]

The Russian embassy has answered my emails. According to them, an American Citizen would need a visa to enter Crimea. For a private, in home visa, it would be a process like it was years ago for Ukraine. My wife would have to get an official invitation letter and mail it to me. This would take a long time!

Now remember, the mail system is not even working now in Crimea! She might be able to use something like DHL.

Some of the banks are supposed to open on 1 April. They will probably have a limit on how much you can take out.

I talk to my wife every day on the phone, as her cell phone still works for now. All the Ukrainian companies are getting taken over by Russian companies.

I called Turkish Airlines. The man said they would resume their flights to Simferopol starting 30 April. I think you can get a Turkish visa online. Has anyone done this?

I presume that the process you would need to go through now would be exactly the process needed for obtaining a visa for visiting Russia.

I think the people of Crimea had brought this mess upon themselves. Some were whining that they want to live in Russia because Russia is big and strong and has more money - now they can have a good taste of Russia's money (or lack of such) and reduced tourists flow. Others were just too passive to speak up and say they want to stay in Ukraine, and were hoping that someone else would do the job for them. Together they made it possible for Russia to grab the land, and together they brought disgrace for Ukrainian Army and Navy, for soldiers and marines, for cadets of military academies located in Crimea, for all the people that now are suffering, they are responsible for Russia stealing Ukrainian property, they are responsible for Ukraine loosing military and space equipment worth of billions of $$, they are responsible for Russia trying now to steal the historic treasures of Ukrainian nation. They only needed to do as much as lift their butt and open their mouth to speak up. And they staid silent or fell prey for Kremlin propaganda. Greed, opportunism, idleness and stupidity are a dangerous mix.

[die_cast]

I think the people of Crimea had brought this mess upon themselves. ... And they staid silent or fell prey for Kremlin propaganda. Greed, opportunism, idleness and stupidity are a dangerous mix.

I think Crimeans would not agree with you: http://www.facebook.com/zednovos/posts/235150163337300?stream_ref=10
I can't call them nor greedy, nor stupid. 

[justme100]

1) Russia gives Russian passports/citizenships to Crimean residents, but takes away & destroys their Ukrainian passports

Can you prove this? Until today the only ones who destroyed their passports by burning them were Crimeans themselves. Nobody takes away your Ukrainian passport.

[justme100]

together they brought disgrace for Ukrainian Army and Navy, for soldiers and marines,

You should have seen the faces of these "disgraced" Ukraine Navy officers last week when we all in the headquarters applied our documents for being transferred into Russian Feferation service, check how many officers from the Navy decided to remain Ukrainians and return to mainland. Especially these disgraced people were "upset" with the amount of salary they will get from now on. 

[justme100]

I think Crimeans would not agree with you

Crimeans already don't pay any attention on all this stuff that is heard on all the fora, word in word the same stated above
I saw photos of empty shop shelves on net, implying there are no products here and we have nothing to eat. [size=78%] About Ukrainian tourists I won't even comment, it's more than funny. Locals know. [/size]
Russia even returns to Ukraine its military techniques at its own expense as Ukraine has no money for doing this itself, and for Russia its cheaper to pay for transporting all this stuff to the mainland , than utilize it.

[TheTraveler]

The Russian embassy has answered my emails. According to them, an American Citizen would need a visa to enter Crimea. For a private, in home visa, it would be a process like it was years ago for Ukraine. My wife would have to get an official invitation letter and mail it to me. This would take a long time!

why not get a hotel-stay-type tourist visa?

those can be had within a few days.

[stilllooking]

why not get a hotel-stay-type tourist visa?

those can be had within a few days.

Too simple and would mean he might find out his wife not being entirely truthful.

Don't know the background of everything, but looking at this threat from the outside you can't help feeling somewhere something is not right. If it was my wife I would be in Ukraine/Russia doing my best to get her out or myself into Crimea and would not be exchanging emails with consulates etc but sitting on their doorstep. Nothing beats old fashioned face to face conversation to getting things done.

[Wayne]

Mies brings up some interesting points. It really is a mess! 
 
Wife and daughter turned in their applications for the Russian internal passports. They did not take away their old passports at that time. Of course, they need to use the Ukrainian passport until they get the Russian ones. Their passport is the primary means of identification. They use it every day.
 
They don't know when they will start processing the international passports.
 
The whole land ownership problem needs to be solved. First of all, a large percent of Crimea could be public or govenment owned. Perhaps Russia could purchase that land.
 
The most expensive land in Crimea is along the southern coast on the Black Sea. There are some very large, expensive homes that are owned by non-Russians.

[mies]

I think Crimeans would not agree with you: http://www.facebook.com/zednovos/posts/235150163337300?stream_ref=10
I can't call them nor greedy, nor stupid. 

quoting from your link:
"Рациональная крайне проста – мы выбирали из двух зол меньшее. Это обыкновенный шкурный вопрос, никакой идеологии или философской базы. При том, что воруют в России не меньше, а многократно больше, уровень жизни и заработков все равно намного выше чем на Украине."

and more:

"Кроме того, основной источник доходов Крыма – это туризм. Любой человек, вовлеченный в эту сферу в Крыму (а это большая часть населения), совершенно точно знает, чего ждать от отдыхающих из разных регионов СНГ. Россияне в большинстве своем – это беспроблемные и доходные отдыхающие, наиболее легко расстающиеся со своими кровными. От приезжих с Украины, особенно с центра и запада, можно легко ожидать багажник, забитый мешками с картошкой, закатками, а также долгого и нудного торга за каждую копейку (ничего личного, просто наблюдения, и не только мои. Я в этом, гм, «бизнесе» уже около 10 лет). Я надеюсь, что поток туристов из России сильно возрастет, особенно с учетом планирующихся скидок на авиаперелеты, которые собирается компенсировать правительство, а также обещанных инвестиций в курортную зону (конечно, нашему тур. бизнесу критически необходимо начинать менять свое лицо и уровень сервиса, здесь и сами это понимают. Но не все в одночасье).  "

Are you planning to spend your vacation in Crimea this summer? Did you spend it there the last summer?
The truth is that there are no reasons for increase of Russian tourism into Crimea this year. Russians never needed visas to enter Crimea/Ukraine. Also, since prices were lower in Ukraine - Crimea was more attractive to them than it will be now.

Also, when I say "residents of Crimea brought it upon themselves" - I mean both ethnic Russians and ethnic Ukrainians. Crimean Tatars always openly opposed being annexed to Russia, and are going to have their own referendum soon, where they are going to vote for being Ukrainian autonomy. Let's see how Putin will react to that.