The article examines the role and place of the Visegrad Group countries, as well as the Central European region as a whole, in the foreign policy planning of Russia in 1991–2018. Based on the historical and genetic method to create a holistic image of the region’s perception, the article analyzes the step-by-step changes that have occurred in the minds of the highest political leadership and the public in relation to it since the times of the USSR (1968–1985, 1985–1991, 1991–1995, 1996–1999, 2000–2008, 2008–2018). This method is supplemented by media content analysis, which makes it possible to identify approaches to cooperation between Russia and the Visegrad countries not only at the official level, but also in the public space. The article also analyses growth and decline of the level of Russian mass media interest in this topic, taking into consideration the newsbreaks that arose in the field of bilateral interaction, as well as on the global agenda of this period. The research rests on the study of the foreign policy concepts of the Russian Federation (1993, 2000, 2008, 2013, 2016) and its concept of national security (1997), speeches, records of conversations of Russian and Western politicians, media articles and news reports.