Russia has climbed up the ranking of countries whose citizens enjoy the most freedom of travel abroad after initially sliding amid the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to a rating of passport “strength” in 2025.
Russia and Turkey tied for 46th with visa-free access to 116 out of 227 country destinations worldwide, according to the Henley & Partners residence and citizenship planning firm.
Russia last ranked 46th in 2022, the year it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, after which it dropped to 49th in 2023 and 51st in 2024. Despite that drop, Russia was still in the top 25% of countries with the world’s most powerful passports.
Ukraine is in a five-way tie for 30th, with 148 available visa-free country destinations.
Henley & Partners ranks the strength of 199 different passports based on the availability of visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 227 destination countries.
Flights between Russia and the West came to a virtual standstill following mutual airspace bans in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, forcing many Russians to seek workarounds and alternative travel destinations.
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