Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated that Moscow would maintain a visa-free entry for Ukrainian citizens despite Kiev’s unilateral decision to establish a visa regime for Russians, during a weekly briefing in Moscow on Wednesday.

"The Russian side has repeatedly stated that it will not follow the same path and will not liken itself to the Kiev regime, taking revenge on the ordinary citizens interested in maintaining family and spiritual ties. Based on this humanitarian logic, the visa-free regime for Ukrainian citizens was maintained," Zakharova said.

Last June, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in his Telegram channel that a visa regime for Russian citizens would be introduced starting from July 1, 2022, to 'counter unprecedented threats to national security'.

For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 29, 2023, signed a decree on the order of entry to the Russian Federation and exit from the Russian Federation of Ukrainian citizens, according to which Ukrainian citizens can stay in Russia without visas.

Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.

Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.