The Russian passport dropped 4 places globally within 3 months in the ranking of countries whose citizens enjoy the greatest freedom to travel abroad, according to the passport power ranking for the first quarter of 2019.
According to The Moscow Times, Russia ranked 47th in the index of Henley & Partners, the residence and citizenship planning firm, for January–March 2019, allowing its citizens to travel to 118 destinations, while Russia shared 51st place with Bosnia and Herzegovina in the April–June index, as holders of both countries' passports can now go to 116 destinations without a visa or with a visa on arrival.
Russian newspaper Kommersant Business Daily reported that Russia dropped in the ranking because Djibouti and Benin now require Russians to obtain electronic visas instead of visas on arrival.
On the other hand, Russia maintained third place among post-Soviet states, behind Ukraine, whose passport gives access to 126 destinations, and then Moldova with 119 countries.
Japan and Singapore share first place, which gives their passport holders access to 189 destinations without a visa or with a visa on arrival, while Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan came in the last 3 places, with 29, 27 and 25 destinations respectively.
It is worth noting that Henley periodically issues a ranking measuring the strength of 199 different passports for entry into 227 countries, based on the availability of visa-free access or visa on arrival.
