Russian Diplomats Escape North Korea in Hand-Pushed Trolley

In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, North Korea closed its land borders with China and Russia and put a stop to air travel.

Faced with no other options, a group of Russian diplomats and their family members embarked on a gruelling cross-country journey to leave the secretive state, including a final leg on a hand-pushed railway trolley.

According to Russia’s foreign ministry, the group of eight, which included a three-year-old girl, took lengthy train and bus journeys from the capital Pyongyang to get close to the Russian border yesterday.

But they had to resort to loading their belongings on to a trolley and have the embassy’s third secretary, Vladislav Sorokin, push them for the final kilometre through the North Korean countryside, including over the river Tumen that divides the two countries.

“Since the borders have been closed for more than a year and the passenger communication has been stopped, it’s been a long and difficult way to get home,” the foreign ministry said.

When the group managed to reach the border, the ministry said they were met by colleagues and taken to Vladivostok airport.

Officially, North Korea has not recorded a single case of the coronavirus, although this improbable claim is treated with scepticism internationally.