Russians are increasingly returning to Europe for holidays, even as the EU has some of the world’s toughest sanctions against Moscow over the war in Ukraine. Confidential figures, seen by  Euractiv  and circulated among national governments, show that Schengen visa issuance to Russian nationals rose in 2025, exposing a gap between Europe’s political rhetoric on isolating the Kremlin and the continued appetite for Russian tourism across parts of the bloc. JOIN US ON TELEGRAM Follow our coverage