Do you love Putin? The question about the Russians leaving

Saprykin was then ordered to empty his bag on the table. The agent gathered everything and left the room. For the next 40 minutes, the most frightening scenarios went into his mind, Saprykin says. But they finally let him through.

Interrogating and such checks are illegal under Russian law, said human rights lawyer Alyona Savelyova, from the Nongovernmental Organisation “Russia behind bars”.

By not having any authority to question people or to conduct personal checks, including mobile phones, agents call them talks,” explained Savelyova.

If there wasn't any search, you voluntarily showed them the phone. They don't write any reports, like there's no interrogation. You've only been asked about politics, what you think about conflict, with our neighbours, of course all this is illegal”, she says.

Lawyer Ivan Pavlov, who heads the Nongovernmental Organisation “First Department”, added that border agents also pressure travellers with “an informal blackmail tool”.

“They can keep you in control of passports as long as you lose your” flight, he said.

The “Russians these days have real problems with tickets and money. If a person risks losing a ticket that cost him 50,000 rubles [$500], surely he will tell them everything they want to see”, Pavlov says.

Forty-seven-year-old Yulia, who asked to be identified only by her name, left Russia for Turkey from Moscow's Domodedovo airport on 12 March with her school-aged husband and daughter.

Her husband split into the ranks for passport control and failed to take the other side, Yulia told Radio Free Europe.

Later she learned that her husband withdrew from the line when she told the agent that she was working at a bank.

He entered a separate room,” said Yulia.

There were two men in civilian clothing there. The first thing they did was take his phone and they started controlling”, she said.

As an eternity

Like Saprykin, Yulia and her husband had been warned about the raids and had erased everything that might be considered suspicious, especially conversations with Julia's sister, who lives in the Ukrainian town attacked by Russians, Chernihiv.

We said a lot of emotional stuff there [in the conversation] that could permanently take us away,” said Yulia.

The first question to be asked to the husband of Youlias, she said it was why he had erased all his conversations: “What were you trying to hide?”, she quoted Russian officials as saying.

The agents questioned him for about an hour.

When he came out with his passport, his hands trembled at”, recalls Julia.

His face was white as a sheet of paper. I was afraid he'd get a stroke... only after he regained control of himself, he could tell me what happened. That clock of interrogation seemed like an eternity of”, she says.

She added that when her family left Russia, they did not intend to emigrate forever, but simply “changed their circumstances before I went mad”.

But that's how my homeland,”, she said. Thank you very much... We were meant to leave to rest, but now, to be honest, I don't even know if it's worth coming back. They have not declared military status, and this is how they treat people. And what happens if they impose it? Will you support people for the wall for the slightest suspicion?

Ruslan, who demanded that his last name not be used, left Moscow for Turkey on 5 March. He told Radio Free Europe that his wife is Ukrainian, and her relatives live in Ukraine.

So how could I feel about this war?”

When he was passing passport control, the Russian agent asked to see their return tickets.

As soon as he admitted they did not, he and his wife withdrew from the line and were sent to a room for questioning.

The “were two men wearing suits in the room”, he said. “They didn't introduce themselves”, Ruslan relates.

After a few questions, they asked to see Ruslan's phone.

“They looked at it for about 10 minutes”, he said.

They read everything, SMS, browser stories, subscriptions, even my favorite history. It was very detailed checks. I had an unread message from my mother and they also read it”, Ruslan said.

The agents asked him which organization he belonged to if he had donated any money or transferred any means to Ukraine. They asked about his attitude towards “political events” and how he separates false news from truth.

“I've been trying to answer briefly and correctly without entering”, he said. I knew it was a provocation and they were trying to shock me, make me lose self-control”, Ruslan relates.

His wife was widely asked about her family in Ukraine and her contacts with them.

The last request was”, Ruslan said. “Were your rights violated in Russia because of your nationality?” My wife answered: “My wife in line with the Russian passport was allowed to pass without a question, but I've been sitting here with you for half an hour. You tell me if my rights have been violated”.

After another 20 minutes, the couple were allowed to pass through the waiting area.

There was a lot of families there with dogs and cats in the carriage”, Ruslan said. The “was immediately clear that these people were not flying on vacation for a week”, he said.

I think the guys who questioned us also understood this”, he added.

But they had no power to stop us. They haven't taken the order yet, he said. / REL