People usually send documents, clothes, gifts, small electronics and medicines to Russia with a traveler. Russia is in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), so the import allowances are common to the Union: by air you can bring goods for personal use worth up to 10,000 euros and weighing up to 50 kg duty-free, by other transport up to 500 euros and 25 kg. Medicines with narcotic or psychotropic substances come in only with medical documents in Russian and a written declaration.
What you can usually send
You can send goods for personal, family and household needs that are not related to business. Customs decides whether these are personal goods based on their nature and quantity and on how often the person crosses the border.
- Documents: certificates, powers of attorney, original papers.
- Clothes, shoes, gifts, small electronics: within the common value and weight allowance.
- Medicines without narcotic or psychotropic substances: no permits needed, in amounts for personal treatment.
- Ready-made food: cheese, yogurt, canned food, heat-treated meat and fish products, in factory packaging, up to 5 kg per person.
- Tea, coffee, spices, dried vegetables: no phytosanitary certificate needed.
What you cannot send or should avoid
The list of import bans for Russia is common to the EAEU. Medicines deserve special attention: bringing in medicines with narcotic substances without documents is a criminal offense.
- Narcotics: banned, except medicines prescribed for medical reasons, with documents.
- Medicines with narcotic or psychotropic substances: only in limited amounts, with medical documents in Russian or a notarized translation, stating the name and quantity. They must be declared in writing.
- Medicines with potent substances: you need prescription documents, except for medicines registered in Russia and sold without a prescription. You can check the ingredients in the State Register of Medicines.
- Raw meat, milk and other unprocessed animal products: in any amount, only with a permit from Rosselkhoznadzor and a veterinary certificate.
- Seeds, planting material and potatoes: only with a phytosanitary certificate. Other fruit and vegetables: up to 5 kg; pumpkins, melons and watermelons: one of each; flowers: up to 3 bouquets.
- Weapons, encryption and radio-electronic devices: restricted. Individuals cannot bring in special technical devices for covert information gathering.
- Sturgeon caviar over 250 g, fish over 5 kg, alcohol over 5 liters: no longer count as goods for personal use.
- Power banks and spare batteries: on a plane, carry-on only, never in checked baggage. Under the IATA 2026 guidance, you can take no more than two power banks, each up to 100 Wh; larger ones are forbidden, and you can't charge them from the aircraft power supply. Spare batteries for devices: up to 100 Wh without approval, 100 to 160 Wh with the airline's approval and no more than two per device, over 160 Wh not allowed. Airlines may set stricter rules.
- Someone else's cash: under our rules, you cannot send any cash that belongs to another person.
Duty-free allowances
The allowances apply to each person. Used items needed on the trip do not count toward them.
- By air: goods worth up to 10,000 euros and weighing up to 50 kg.
- By other transport and on foot: up to 500 euros and 25 kg.
- Above the allowance: 30% of the value above the allowance, but at least 4 euros per kilogram above it.
- Alcohol: 3 liters duty-free. From 3 to 5 liters, 10 euros for each liter above 3. Age 18 and over only.
- Tobacco: 200 cigarettes, or 50 cigars and cigarillos, or 200 heated tobacco sticks, or 250 g of tobacco. Age 18 and over only.
- Cash: amounts over the equivalent of 10,000 US dollars must be declared in writing. Rubles and foreign currency are counted together. Above 100,000 US dollars, you need documents showing where the money came from.
How to pack and what to check at handover
The traveler should see everything they carry. So the parcel is packed in front of them, not handed over as a closed box.
- Show every item at the meeting. The traveler does not take anything sealed.
- Add a receipt if the item is new and expensive: it helps confirm the value.
- For medicines: original packaging and a prescription or a doctor's statement. Documents in a foreign language need a notarized translation into Russian.
- Food: ready-made and factory-packed only.
- Take photos of the contents and of the packed parcel, and share the recipient's contacts.
Who is responsible at the border
The person carrying the parcel is responsible. At customs, someone else's item in the luggage counts as the traveler's. If an allowance is exceeded or an item is banned, the traveler pays and does the explaining, and medicines with narcotic substances without documents carry criminal liability.
If there is nothing to declare, the traveler takes the green channel; otherwise, the red one. A traveler can refuse an item if they are not sure it can be brought in.
Find a traveler to Russia
Trips to Russia are collected on route pages, for example Belgrade → Moscow, Belgrade → Saint Petersburg and Antalya → Moscow. All directions are on the routes page.
If there is no suitable trip, post a request: travelers on your route will see it and respond. The price calculator suggests how much to offer for delivery.
Sources
- Eurasian Economic Commission: allowances for goods for personal use (Annex 1 to Decision No. 107)
- Eurasian Economic Commission: duty rates above the allowance (Annex 2 to Decision No. 107)
- Eurasian Economic Commission: goods that are not for personal use (Annex 6 to Decision No. 107)
- Eurasian Economic Commission: moving goods for personal use and cash
- Federal Customs Service of Russia: medicines
- Federal Customs Service of Russia: moving cash
- Federal Customs Service of Russia: prohibited and restricted goods
- Rosselkhoznadzor: rules for hand luggage
- Rosselkhoznadzor: rules for importing animal and plant products
- Ural Transport Prosecutor's Office: liability for importing medicines with narcotic substances
- IATA: passengers travelling with lithium batteries
- Parcelane: prohibited and restricted items
Checked: November 2026. Rules change, so check the Russian Federal Customs Service website before the trip.