The first car with Russian license plates was detained in Lithuania. It will be handed over to Ukraine

In the Lithuanian city of Midniki, which borders Belarus, customs officials detained the first car with Russian license plates. Now the car will probably be confiscated and handed over to the needs of Ukraine.

This was reported by the Criminal Customs Service of Lithuania, an institution of the Lithuanian customs that fights against smuggling.

A citizen of Moldova was driving an Audi Q7 from Lithuania to Belarus. The man told the border guards that he knew nothing about the restrictions introduced by the European Union.

It turned out that the owner of the car is a citizen of Russia, the citizen of Moldova was alone in the car. The driver was informed of the rules effective from March 11, 2024 and informed that he would face a fine and confiscation of the car. An administrative offense report was drawn up against him, and a car worth €41,690 was seized.

By introducing new rules, Lithuania fulfills the sanctions requirements of the European Commission. From March 11, 2024, cars registered in Russia cannot be on the territory of Lithuania. Until then, such cars should have left the territory of the country or re-registered in Lithuania. The latter was allowed for cars that entered Lithuania until December 19, 2023.

An exception to the new rules applies only to citizens of Russia traveling on vehicles registered in the Russian Federation in transit to or from the Kaliningrad region under a simplified transit document. Such transit through the territory of Lithuania cannot last more than 24 hours. During transit, the vehicle must be owned by its owner.

• The other day, the Finnish customs service announced that all cars with Russian license plates must leave the territory of Finland by March 16. At the same time, it is not yet known what will happen to these cars after March 16, if they remain on the territory of the country. Last fall , Finland banned cars with Russian license plates from entering its territory. Then Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia also did it.
• On February 15, 2024, amendments to the "Law on Road Traffic" also came into effect in Latvia, which will allow the confiscation of cars with Russian license plates under certain conditions.