diff --git a/doc/releasenotes/7_0_1_release_notes.md b/doc/releasenotes/7_0_1_release_notes.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5b0d3f30a62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/releasenotes/7_0_1_release_notes.md
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+This update fixes several regressions that were deemed significant enough to be backported to the release branch.
+In addition, the experimental feature to set system variables is now behind a flag that disables it by default.
+
+## Configuration Changes
+* Vtgate: added flag enable_system_settings to enable passthrough system settings, defaults to false #6562
+
+## Bugs Fixed
+* Vreplication: Materialize should only get schema from source tablets if target is missing tables #6623
+* Vtctld UI: mysql port is not displayed in tablet list #6597 #6600
+* Vtgate: transaction killer was closing reserved connection after the specified time. Only idle connections should be closed. Idle transactions should be rolled back. #6583
+* Vtcompose: docker-compose example was broken by tabletmanager changes #6587
+* Vreplication: tablet_picker should respect canceled context. Also, keep trying to find a tablet until context expires. #6567
+* Vtgate: vindex update/delete by destination #6541 #6572
+* Vtgate: some usages of EXPLAIN were broken #6574 #6581
+* Vtgate: handle multiple settings in single SET statement #6504
+* Vtgate: cleanup shard session for reserved connection on failure #6563
+* Vtgate: if executing DDL on reserved connection, start transaction if needed #6555
+* Vtgate: make sure lookup vindexes use same transaction if one is open #6505
+* Healthcheck: add diagnostic logging, do not add tablet if it is shutting down #6512