Russia
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Moratorium on executions
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · In 1996, the then President Boris Yeltsin imposed a...
- News items in the archive
- 461
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Russia is classified as Moratorium on executions in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 461 news items on Russia, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- FEBRUARY 16, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Russian Orthodox Church favors continued public...
The Russian Orthodox Church favors continued public discussion on the abolishment of the death penalty in Russia
- FEBRUARY 16, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Constitutional Court...
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Constitutional Court Tamara Morshchakova described the appeal by the State Duma for [Russian] President [Vladimir Putin] to lift the moratorium on the death penalty as a populist measure
- FEBRUARY 15, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Russian State Duma approved an appeal to President...
The Russian State Duma approved an appeal to President Vladimir Putin by 266 votes to 85
- FEBRUARY 15, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Yuriy Chayka, Russia's Justice Minister, said that...
Yuriy Chayka, Russia's Justice Minister, said that he is against the proposed lifting of Russia's current moratorium on the death penalty in comments on an appeal by members of the lower house of parliament to President Vladimir Putin to lift the moratori
- FEBRUARY 15, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Independent State Duma deputy Sergey Yushenkov has...
Independent State Duma deputy Sergey Yushenkov has said he believes that the Duma appeal to the president to lift the moratorium on the death penalty "has been staged by the Kremlin"
- FEBRUARY 15, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Russian State Duma (lower house) adopted an appeal...
The Russian State Duma (lower house) adopted an appeal to the president Vladimir Putin initiated by member of the People's Deputy parliamentary group Arkady Paskayev, saying it deems it too early "to ratify Protocol No
- FEBRUARY 14, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Governor of Novgorod region Mikhail Prusak said he...
Governor of Novgorod region Mikhail Prusak said he thinks it is premature to fully abolish the death sentence in Russia
- FEBRUARY 11, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty should be restored in Russia and...
The death penalty should be restored in Russia and executions should be public, LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky declared at a round-table meeting titled 'The Abolishment of the Death Penalty Moratorium'
- FEBRUARY 11, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Russia's state...
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Russia's state prosecutors a tongue-lashing for allowing thousands of violent criminals to walk free and told them to improve the conviction rate for serious crimes
- FEBRUARY 9, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
A Russian and a Ukrainian were sentenced to death in...
A Russian and a Ukrainian were sentenced to death in Dubai for murdering an Indian jeweller during a robbery in which they made off with $US1
- FEBRUARY 9, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Vladimir Kalamanov, presidential human rights envoy...
Vladimir Kalamanov, presidential human rights envoy in Chechnya, expressed mixed feelings about the ban on the death penalty in Russia
- FEBRUARY 8, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Russian State Duma drafted an appeal to President...
The Russian State Duma drafted an appeal to President Vladimir Putin against the possible banning of the death penalty
- FEBRUARY 8, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Duma committee for legislation recommended to the...
The Duma committee for legislation recommended to the lower chamber of the Russian parliament the ratification of Protocol No
- FEBRUARY 8, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Russian government faces growing demands to re-institute...
The Russian government faces growing demands to re-institute the death penalty following a five-year moratorium
- FEBRUARY 6, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Writer Anatoly Pristavkin, adviser the Russian president...
Writer Anatoly Pristavkin, adviser the Russian president Vladimir Putin on pardons, hopes that Russia "will soon bow out of the shameful list" of countries that have execution in force
- FEBRUARY 5, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Sergey Mironov, Speaker of the Federation Council (the...
Sergey Mironov, Speaker of the Federation Council (the upper house of the Russian parliament) voiced his support for the moratorium on the death penalty
- FEBRUARY 4, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russian presidential aide on pardon matters and prominent...
Russian presidential aide on pardon matters and prominent writer Anatoly Pristavkin spoke out categorically against a national referendum on re-introducing the death penalty in Russia
- FEBRUARY 1, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Many Duma deputies from the pro-presidential coalition...
Many Duma deputies from the pro-presidential coalition are supporters of restoration of the death penalty
- FEBRUARY 1, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The public debate in Russia over the future of the...
The public debate in Russia over the future of the death penalty heated up when the justice minister said it should be scrapped, while a regional governor said the murder rate showed it ought to be kept
- JANUARY 30, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Vasily has no regrets about his old job as an executioner,...
Vasily has no regrets about his old job as an executioner, but still cannot bring himself to slaughter animals on his small farm
- JANUARY 29, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The murder of a young couple, Alexander and Mariya,...
The murder of a young couple, Alexander and Mariya, apparently by a gang who were after his $60,000 Lexus, sparked fresh debate over the future of the death penalty - on hold in Russia since 1996
- JANUARY 24, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
A briefing submitted by Amnesty International to the...
A briefing submitted by Amnesty International to the 26th Session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women said that in the armed conflict in Chechnya, women have suffered a variety of human rights abuses including rape, arbi
- JANUARY 11, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russia's current laws concerning Criminal Procedures...
Russia's current laws concerning Criminal Procedures are "too soft," an advisor to the prosecutor general Vladimir Kolesnikov said at a press conference
- JANUARY 1, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
In 1996, the then President Boris Yeltsin imposed a...
In 1996, the then President Boris Yeltsin imposed a moratorium on the use of capital punishment when Russia joined the Council of Europe on February 28 of that year
- DECEMBER 29, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russian President Vladimir Putin dissolved the Pardons...
Russian President Vladimir Putin dissolved the Pardons Commission, one of the country's most liberal organisations set up under his predecessor Boris Yeltsin in 1992
- DECEMBER 26, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russia's Prosecutor-General Vladimir Ustinov said Chechen...
Russia's Prosecutor-General Vladimir Ustinov said Chechen rebel commander Salman Raduyev, sentenced December 25 to life imprisonment, deserved the death penalty
- DECEMBER 25, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
[political journalist] Valery Vyzhutovich wrote in...
[political journalist] Valery Vyzhutovich wrote in [the Russian daily business newspaper ] Vremya MN that the life-sentence handed to [Chechen terrorist] Salman Raduyev was "in fact passed long before the end of the trial
- DECEMBER 12, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russia's chief prosecutor told a court that a notorious...
Russia's chief prosecutor told a court that a notorious Chechen guerrilla leader on trial for his part in a bloody hostage-taking raid should spend the rest of his life behind bars
- DECEMBER 10, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
In an open letter on International Human Rights Day,...
In an open letter on International Human Rights Day, Amnesty International urged members of the Russian State Duma (parliament) to take steps towards fully abolishing the death penalty
- DECEMBER 10, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
A group of Russian State Duma deputies from the Union...
A group of Russian State Duma deputies from the Union of Right Forces (SPS) faction said it intends to propose a bill to abolish the death penalty from the Criminal Code