Russian citizens will need to obtain visas to enter Ukraine as of July 1

Russian citizens aiming to travel to Ukraine will now need to obtain visas as of July 1, the chief of Ukraine's Border Service, Serhiy Deyneko announced. "The Ukrainian government’s decision to cancel visa-free visits for Russians went into effect today. Visa-free trips are a privilege for citizens of developed democracies that neither kill civilians nor endanger the sovereignty of neighboring nations," Deyneko wrote on Facebook.

According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the Russians from eight cities will now have to apply for the visa  namely-- Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, and Samara. They can obtain the visas at the offices of VFS Global, a visa outsourcing company. The visas will then be processed by Ukraine's diplomatic missions in other countries, as Ukraine has severed diplomatic ties with Moscow due to the ongoing war that has brought suffering, brutality and civilian losses within its territory. 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier announced that he is introducing the measure "to counter unprecedented threats to Ukraine's national security."  The Russian Foreign Ministry had also issued a response saying that it will respond to the recent severing of diplomatic missions "based on Russia's national interests and humanitarian issues." Several European countries have also halted visa applications to the Russians in response to its military aggression in Ukraine.

Which countries are not accepting visas from Russia?

The latest EU country to halt visas with Russia is Greece, which was inspired by Portugal that took similar measures. Portugal’s Foreign Affairs Minister Augusto Santos Silva announced earlier that it is suspending visa applications for Russians. “SEF has suspended the appreciation of any dossier of candidacy for authorisation of residency through investment, commonly known as golden visas, for Russian citizens,” Augusto Santos Silva wrote in an update. 

The government of the Czech Republic had also earlier announced that it will no longer be accepting or processing visa applications, long-term permits and permanent residence permits for Russian nationals. Iceland, meanwhile, scrapped visa processing for Russian business travellers, government officials and diplomats. Baltic states Latvia and Lithuania also suspended the issuance of visas to Russian citizens indefinitely except in cases related to special humanitarian crises.

In response to the collective EU suspension, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree of visa restrictions for citizens of countries that Moscow deemed “unfriendly.” This involves the visa suspension of citizens in the European Union countries, as well as Norway, Switzerland, Denmark and Iceland.

The EU member nations, since Russia’s invasion, have made the visa procedures for Russians difficult while approving the temporary protected status for Ukrainians arriving in the bloc. There have been more than 2.5 million registrations since the war began. EU rules state that temporary protection applies to all Ukrainian citizens and their families; individuals holding international protected status (asylum) or similar protection in Ukraine, their families; and Ukrainian permanent residents unable to return to their country or region of origin safely and durably; provided they resided in Ukraine on or before 24 February 2022.