Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, on Thursday, confirmed the list of countries whose citizens will be able to visit St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast with a free electronic visa from Oct 1. The list of countries was published on Friday morning.

Citizens of 53 countries will be able to visit the region, RIA Novosti reported on Thursday. It is the same 53 for which a similar scheme was introduced on July 1 for Russia's Far East and Kaliningrad Oblast.

The visa can be applied for here and there is a full list of applicable countries on the website. All EU countries except the United Kingdom are included on the list.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had already signed a decree in July to allow travel to St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast with an electronic visa from October 1, but had not specified which countries would be given access.

An application for an electronic visa must be submitted on the website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs not later than four days before travel. The visa is valid for up to 30 calendar days, but it can only be used to stay for up to eight days in Russia, ERR's Russian portal reported.

There is no charge for an electronic visa.

On Friday the list of applicable countries was published (link in Russian).

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