MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin's decree allowing Ukrainians to enter Russia without a visa will help those who want to move to Russia, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out.
"The fact is that a lot of Ukrainian citizens come to our country; many want to fully assimilate into our country, and of course such measures help those people who want to move here," the Kremlin spokesman told reporters.
Last week, Putin signed a decree laying out the procedure for how Ukrainian citizens can enter and exit Russia.
Peskov recalled that "such a regime has existed before."
According to the decree, Ukrainian citizens can cross the Russian border without a visa as long as they have a domestic or foreign Ukrainian passport, diplomatic or service passport, identity card of a sailor or crew member of an aircraft. They can also enter Russia using a Ukrainian identity card (this will mean they can only leave for this country). As for children, they will need to have a birth certificate or be with a legal guardian who has information about the child in their passport. Ukrainians will also be allowed to enter Russia with expired documents. Ukrainian citizens who do not have valid documents may, as an exception, leave Russia for neighboring countries through the land border by providing a document establishing their identity as a foreign citizen, issued by the territorial body of the Interior Ministry. Leaving Russia with expired documents is also allowed.
An agreement between the governments of the Russian Federation and Ukraine on visa-free travel for citizens of the two countries has been in effect since 1997. According to an explanatory note, on the initiative of the Ukrainian side, the agreement ceased to exist after January 1, 2023.