Hm... Yes, your warning was totally accurate.
I think the woman made up the requirement for the original doc on the spot, because she didn't like me or something.

It was amazing to see how people from various countries in Asia came and tried to speak English with her, and she just totally refused even trying. Leaving them to try to use their 5 word Russian vocabulary to explain the problem.

I checked the requirements for Kaliningrad too, in the hope that they had some special setup there or something - I heard that it was visa free some years back. But now there is a requirement for a visa, and there is no fast tracking available.

All I can say is that it is fortunate that the Russian language is spoken in other countries too.
Apparently Kazakhstan does not require visas of EU citizens. (Probably with the condition that they can find the country on a map, and do not mention the word "Borat....")