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Reaching a breaking point almost three years ago , the conflict between Russia and Ukraine changed things forever when full scale war broke out in February 2022 when the Russian president Vladimir Putin announced an operation was in place to “ demilitarise and denazify ” Ukraine . The military action was internationally condemned , many countries imposed sanctions , aid in the form military and humanitarian was sent to Ukraine .
Surprisingly for travellers Russia eased its own requirements allowing greater freedoms to access the worlds largest country , and although numbers of Westerns entering Russia has decreased those that do take on the adventure have found something vastly different to what political leaders would have us believe . Many who have taken the step , or ridden , across the border have found a Russia quite different to what it was pre-2022 , a Russia that in many ways is much easier .
Russia was always a popular destination for the intrepid rider , Trans-Siberian , Road of Bones , just a few of the many rides that drew in the adventurous riding traveller . Criticism was seldom coming , onlookers cared little for the politics , the traveller was considered apolitical and someone who was merely peering in . Conversations have changed dramatically in the past few years , those willing to ride against the flow are now seen as pariahs , outcasts supporting a regime that goes against
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