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
- MAY 23, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Russian Revival movement announced the beginning...
The Russian Revival movement announced the beginning of a signature-collection campaign to initiate a national referendum on lifting the moratorium on capital punishment for those who organise and carry out terrorist acts
- MAY 16, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Dimitry Kozak, deputy head of the presidential administration,...
Dimitry Kozak, deputy head of the presidential administration, said the administration is planning to introduce juries before the end of 2002
- MAY 15, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The watchdog group Human Rights Watch urged the United...
The watchdog group Human Rights Watch urged the United States, European Union and United Nations to make Russia investigate a mass grave site discovered in the rebel Chechen Republic in February
- MAY 14, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Chechen soldiers reported that a traitor was killed...
Chechen soldiers reported that a traitor was killed in Argun because he disclosed the location of a Chechen group during a fight in the same town on May 7
- MAY 12, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) stated...
The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) stated its intention to start collecting signatures to support the introduction of the death penalty for drug distribution
- MAY 5, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Mayor of Groznyy Bislan Gantamirov has ordered...
The Mayor of Groznyy Bislan Gantamirov has ordered anyone who kills the city's Russian-speaking residents to be shot on the spot if found
- MAY 4, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Chechenpress correspondent, A
Chechenpress correspondent, A
- APRIL 29, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russian writer and Nobel Prize winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn...
Russian writer and Nobel Prize winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn stated his belief that Russia will stop terrorism only if it lifts the moratorium on capital punishment
- APRIL 25, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russian Federation was a cosponsor and voted in favour...
Russian Federation was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 25, 2001
- APRIL 20, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The UN Human Rights Commission approved a resolution...
The UN Human Rights Commission approved a resolution condemning Russia for "attacks against civilians", breach of international law, summary executions and "forced disappearances" in Chechnya
- APRIL 10, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
A Russian prosecutor called for the death penalty against...
A Russian prosecutor called for the death penalty against a Chechen separatist fighter accused of killing several Russians, including a baby, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported
- APRIL 9, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Seven people were executed by fighters from Commander...
Seven people were executed by fighters from Commander Arbi Barayev's unit in the village of Valerik of Urus-Martanovskiy District
- MARCH 26, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Stavropol region Governor Alexander Chernogorov suggested...
Stavropol region Governor Alexander Chernogorov suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin "revive the death penalty in Russia in relation to the organisers and perpetrators of terrorist attacks"
- MARCH 24, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov told the press that the death...
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov told the press that the death penalty must be applied in relation to terrorists
- MARCH 21, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The US-based Human Rights Watch urged European Union...
The US-based Human Rights Watch urged European Union leaders to press Russian President Vladimir Putin on Chechen civilians who disappeared after being in Russian custody
- MARCH 6, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Representatives from the Memorial Rights Centre have...
Representatives from the Memorial Rights Centre have said that many corpses which were found near Khankala were victims of executions by Russian service men
- MARCH 2, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Foreign Ministry of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria...
The Foreign Ministry of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria expressed its deep dissatisfaction with the lack of a proper reaction on the part of the world community to Russia's continuing atrocities against the Chechen people, after the discovery, on Februar
- JANUARY 29, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Duma member Vladislav Ignatov suggested introducing...
Duma member Vladislav Ignatov suggested introducing capital punishment for drug dealers and corrupt officials
- JANUARY 24, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russian Main Military Prosecutor Mikhail Kislitsyn,...
Russian Main Military Prosecutor Mikhail Kislitsyn, said it was too soon for Russia to abolish the death penalty
- JANUARY 13, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that the Mojahedin Military Command...
It was reported that the Mojahedin Military Command Council had sentenced to death for being enemy conspirators and executed five people who worked in a Russian concentration camp as "torture agents" in the village of Sherkesnov
- JANUARY 5, 2001RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Two Chechen traitors were executed in Urus-Martan after...
Two Chechen traitors were executed in Urus-Martan after the mandate issued by the Mojahedin Military Command Council
- JANUARY 1, 2001RussiaDEATH 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 31, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Special Rapporteur has continued to follow the...
The Special Rapporteur has continued to follow the situation in Chechnya, where Russian government forces are reported to be committing grave human rights violations, including deliberate and targeted extrajudicial executions of unarmed civilians
- DECEMBER 14, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Russian State Duma anti-corruption committee Chairman,...
The Russian State Duma anti-corruption committee Chairman, Vladislav Ignatov, suggested in a press conference that the death penalty should be introduced as a punishment for drug dealing
- DECEMBER 12, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The President of the Chechnya, Aslan Maskhadov, issued...
The President of the Chechnya, Aslan Maskhadov, issued a decree "On Criminal Responsibility of Citizens of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria for Crimes Committed in Georgia"
- NOVEMBER 22, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Nobel peace prize-winning humanitarian body Medicins...
Nobel peace prize-winning humanitarian body Medicins sans Frontieres (MSF) condemned Russia's "policy of terror" in Chechnya, which it said included arbitrary executions and ethnic cleansing
- OCTOBER 31, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russian Deputy Justice Minister Yuri Kalinin said that...
Russian Deputy Justice Minister Yuri Kalinin said that that there are currently over 1,000 prisoners in Russia who have been sentenced to capital punishment
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Vladimir Putin stated that if a majority of the public...
Vladimir Putin stated that if a majority of the public favour an end to the moratorium on the death penalty, "the people's views must be accommodated"
- SEPTEMBER 15, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
According to figures from Interior Ministry institutes,...
According to figures from Interior Ministry institutes, 85 per cent of the public favour the implementation of death sentences which have already been passed
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Chairman of the Russian State Duma's Legislation...
The Chairman of the Russian State Duma's Legislation Committee Panel Krasheninnikov announced that the Union of Right Forces (SPS) faction he represents categorically opposes the annulment of the moratorium on capital punishment