The Polish airline LOT has denied boarding Russian tennis player Vitalia Dyachenko, who was planning to play in a tournament in Corsica. Her route from Cairo lay through Warsaw.

"LOT Polish Airlines could not accept a citizen of the Russian Federation on its flight, acting in accordance with the decree of the Minister of the Interior and Administration on the temporary suspension or restriction of border traffic at certain border crossing points. The provisions of the order introduce restrictions on certain checkpoints, including airports, in relation to citizens of the Russian Federation traveling from outside the Schengen area," the airline's official position reads.

On Monday, a 32-year-old Russian woman complained on social media that she could not fly from Cairo to Nice via Warsaw. She had her letters of recommendation from WTA and ITF and a letter from her father, who was born in Ukraine and worked for the United Nations.

The tennis player ranked 250 WTA has added that she could not fly to Nice quickly because airlines do not carry Russians, so she will be forced to withdraw from the tournament. The tennis player spent 18 hours at the Cairo airport.

"I spent the night at the airport, I was treated like a third-class person, I spent a couple of thousand euros, and now there is no way to get to the tournament, as there is no route due to airlines that do not transport Russians and visa restrictions," she complained on social media.

Dyachenko tried to take a Lufthansa flight, but they did not sell her a ticket either, explaining that she should enter the Schengen zone only through Spain, which issued her a visa.

In September 2022, the EU suspended the simplified visa regime with Russia. The European Commission suggested that EU member states introduce a stricter approach to issuing Schengen visas to Russians (Ukr).

Since then, countries bordering Russia, such as the Baltic states, as well as Finland, Czechia, and Poland, have banned Russian tourists from entering altogether.