1934-1945

Czechoslovakia recognized the Soviet Union de jure and the countries established diplomatic relations in June 1934. On 16 May 1935, the Czechoslovak–Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance was signed between the two governments that followed the similar treaty between the USSR and France, which was Czechoslovakia's major ally.^[2]

Following the German occupation of Czechoslovakia and the establishment of the pro-German Slovak state in March 1939, the Soviet Union promptly recognized the new status quo and terminated diplomatic relations with Czech representatives. Shortly after the Munich Agreement, many Czechoslovak Communists gained asylum in the Soviet Union, however hundreds of non-communist refugees were sent to labour camps.^[3]

Cold War (1945-1989)

Following World War II pre war Czechoslovakia was reestablished, with the exception of Subcarpathian Ruthenia, which was annexed by the Soviet Union, who then evicted over 2 million ethnic Germans and confiscated the property of these Germans before moving communists from other countries into this country to repopulate it, including Greeks. Not happy with the 1946 election results, the USSR-backed pro-Soviet coup d'état in February 1948 resulted in Czechoslovakia became part of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc and was one of the founding members of the Warsaw Pact in May 1955. In August 1968, in response to the Prague Spring pro-democracy reforms of the Czech government, the Soviet-led invasion re-established the hardline Communist rule by force. 108 Czechs and Slovaks died and approximately 500 were wounded as a direct result of the invasion. This damaged relations between the two countries. In 1968–69, Czechoslovakia was turned into a federation of the Czech Socialist Republic and Slovak Socialist Republic however, the centralised political control by the Czechoslovak Communist Party severely limited the effects of federalisation.

1989–2020

Following the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 and the dissolution of Czechoslovakia on 31 December 1992 into two countries, Russia immediately recognised the independent Czech Republic and the two states established diplomatic relations on 1 January 1993.^[4] During an official visit by Russia′s president Boris Yeltsin to the Czech Republic in August 1993, the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation was signed by Yeltsin and Czech president Václav Havel.^[4]

The independent Czech Republic re-aligned its foreign policy and economic interests with Western allies throughout the 1990's, and joined NATO in march 1999 and the European Union in May 2004.

In December 2011, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev visited Prague, to sign economic contracts and cultural exchange. Both countries consider each other as an important economic partner.

As a response to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine from 2014, the Czech Republic has participated in enacting economic sanctions against Russia. In March 2018, the Czech Republic expelled three Russian diplomats as a reaction to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the United Kingdom.^[5]

In March 2018, the Czech Republic arrested and extradited a Russian hacker into the United States on American request.^[6]

In late 2010s, the controversy about the statue of Ivan Konev in Prague has been one of the issues that caught public attention in this area.^[7]

Miloš Zeman, president of the Czech Republic from March 2013, has been described as "one of the European Union's most Kremlin-friendly leaders", with some of his close aides said to be agents of Russian intelligence.^[8][9] Zeman has supported Russia on issues such as the Russo-Ukrainian War, thereby defying NATO′s and EU′s official policies.^[10]

2021–present

On 17 April 2021, the Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš announced that the Czech Republic was expelling 18 Russian diplomats it had identified as GRU and SVR spies — after the Czech intelligence agencies had concluded that Russian military intelligence officers, namely members of Russian military intelligence GRU's unit 29155, were involved in two massive ammunition depot explosions in Vrbětice (part of Vlachovice), near the Czech-Slovak border, in October 2014.^[11] Shortly after, the Czech Republic formally informed the NATO allies on the matter and requested a joint statement at the NATO level as well as a follow-up North Atlantic Council meeting "to discuss other possible coordinated steps".^[12] In the wake of the expulsion, Bloomberg News commented that "in a rare act of unity, Zeman took the government’s side against Putin".^[13] The Russian government responded by expelling 20 Czech diplomats.^[14]

Following Russia's own diplomatic response of expelling Czech diplomats, the newly appointed Czech foreign minister Jakub Kulhánek on 21 April gave the Russian government an ultimatum saying Russia had until 12 p.m. the next day to allow the return of all the Czech diplomats it had expelled from Moscow back to the Czech Embassy in Moscow and if that did not happen "he would cut the number of Russian Embassy staff in Prague so it would correspond to the current situation at the Czech Embassy in Moscow".^[15] On 22 April, as Russia refused to abide with the Czech demands in returning Czech staff to the Embassy in Moscow, the Czech foreign ministry announced it was reducing and capping the number of staff at the Russian Embassy in Prague at the current number of their staff in Moscow; the Russian embassy staff were required to leave the Czech Republic by 31 May 2021.^[16] The Czech government response was followed with support by a number of other EU countries expelling Russia′s diplomatic personnel.^{[17][18][19][20]} The Russian government responded by setting the Czech Republic on its 'unfriendly countries list' along with the United States. As a result the Czech embassy in Moscow are allowed to only hire up to 19 Russian locals, while the U.S. embassy in Moscow are not allowed to hire any Russian locals.^[21][22]

In November 2023 the Czech government froze all Russian State assets in their country, blocking the sale of land and buildings and bank accounts associated with the rental of such assets.^[23]

Immigration

There is an immigrant minority of 33 970 Russian citizens with a residence permit in the Czech Republic for a period of 12 months or more, as of 2016. It is the fourth largest immigrant group after Slovaks, Ukrainians and Vietnamese, followed by Germans.^[50] Russians have the largest proportion of university educated individuals among other immigrant groups.^[51] Most incoming Russians are members of the middle or upper classes and their reasons for migration into the Czech Republic are desire for a life in the European Union, better healthcare in the Czech Republic, high levels of corruption in Russia and also political reasons. Russian immigrants have large proportion of business people in comparison with other immigrant groups.^[52]

Tourism

The Czech Republic is a popular destination for Russian tourists. In 2017, over 550,000 Russians visited the country.^[53]