The Federal Guard Service said Wednesday that it has agreed to lift a ban on professional photo and video shoots on the Kremlin's territory after a photographer complained about the restrictions to President Dmitry Medvedev.
The service has drafted an order lifting the January 2008 ban on orders from Medvedev, an avid photographer, the service said in a statement.
A Moscow-based photographer and popular blogger, Dmitry Ternovsky, met Medvedev at the Krasnaya Polyana ski resort near Sochi in late January, where they were both vacationing. Ternovsky wrote on his LiveJournal blog that he used the meeting to complain about the guard service's restrictions.
Ternovsky posted a YouTube video on Jan. 26 showing his conversation with Medvedev on a snowy slope. In the video, Medvedev called the ban "stupid," saying he has "given an order" and "soon shooting will be allowed."
The order would allow photo and video shooting with professional cameras throughout the publicly accessible Kremlin, including on Red Square and in Alexandrovsky Sad, without prior permission.
Shoots for advertisements and movies would still require permission.
"Any shooting that disturbs tourists has to be approved by the Kremlin," guard service spokesman Sergei Devyatov said by phone.
He did not say when the order would be published or take effect.
The 2008 order amended the rules for visiting the Kremlin, which had been enforced by the Federal Guard Service in 2001. Those rules banned both professional and amateur photo and video shooting in and around the Kremlin without permission.
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