On 31 December 2018, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine ruled, by its Decree No. 274, to refrain this year from opening five polling stations in the Russian Federation – located on the premises of the Ukrainian Consulates-General in Rostov-upon-Don and Saint Petersburg, Ukrainian Consulates in Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk as well as of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Russian Federation in Moscow.

Such a decision was made due to the perceived security challenges and threats to a voting process in the territory of the Russian aggressor-state and impossibility to ensure appropriate electoral process in the Russian Federation based on the constitutional laws and electoral standards of Ukraine.

To comply with the requirements of the Constitution of Ukraine with regard to the electoral rights and to guarantee the security of Ukrainian citizens temporarily or permanently residing in the Russian Federation, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine also made a decision allowing the eligible voters to cast their votes in the 2019 elections of the President of Ukraine at the polling stations located as follows:

- the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Finland (instead of the Ukrainian Consulate-General in Saint Petersburg and the Embassy of Ukraine in the Russian Federation in Moscow);

- the Embassy of Ukraine in Georgia (instead of the Ukrainian Consulate-General in Rostov-upon-Don);

- the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Kazakhstan (instead of the Ukrainian Consulates in Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk).

The Government of Ukraine also suggests that the Ukrainian citizens temporarily residing in the Russian Federation travel to Ukraine in order to cast their votes at their respective places of registration in Ukraine.