The Hasidic pilgrims who are now trying to enter the territory of Ukraine through the state border with Belarus were actually deceived by unknown persons who spread false information that it is possible to get to Ukrainian territory, Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko has said.

"Those people who fraudulently lured representatives of the Hasidic religious movement to Belarus and promised them that they could be allowed into Ukraine, these people committed, in my opinion, an offense against those people. They were actually deceived and lured to Belarus. There is no reason to let these citizens enter Ukraine," he said on the air of the Ukraine 24 TV channel on Wednesday morning.

According to Gerashchenko, the Ukrainian side explains to such citizens at the border that they need to return to where they came from - to Israel or other countries.

"But at the moment the legislation does not allow us to let a large number of foreign citizens into the country without sufficient grounds for this. We need to respect the laws of our country," Gerashchenko said.