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
- AUGUST 6, 1999RussiaDEATH PENALTY
On August 6, President Yeltsin formally asked Parliament...
On August 6, President Yeltsin formally asked Parliament to abolish the death penalty in Russia, after sending to the State Duma the protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights which would remove capital punishment from the statute books
- JUNE 2, 1999RussiaDEATH PENALTY
On June 2, President Yeltsin issued a decree commuting...
On June 2, President Yeltsin issued a decree commuting the death sentences of the 716 prisoners to life or 25 years in prison, piling pressure on the country's Parliament to put a definitive end to capital punishment to comply with the terms of its member
- APRIL 28, 1999RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russia was a cosponsor and voted in favor of the resolution...
Russia was a cosponsor and voted in favor of the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 28 (1999/61)
- MARCH 11, 1999RussiaDEATH PENALTY
On March 11, Grigory Kryuchkovsky, 48, and Lema Bakayev,...
On March 11, Grigory Kryuchkovsky, 48, and Lema Bakayev, 43, found guilty of murder were executed by firing squad in Russia's breakaway region of Chechnya
- FEBRUARY 15, 1999RussiaDEATH PENALTY
On February 15, Justice Minister Pavel Krasheninnikov...
On February 15, Justice Minister Pavel Krasheninnikov said that amendments to the Criminal Code to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment will be ready by March
- FEBRUARY 12, 1999RussiaDEATH PENALTY
On February 12, Anatoly Pristavkin said that all Russia's...
On February 12, Anatoly Pristavkin said that all Russia's death-row convicts will have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment or lengthy prison terms by June
- FEBRUARY 1, 1999RussiaDEATH PENALTY
On February 2, the Constitutional Court ordered judges...
On February 2, the Constitutional Court ordered judges across the country to stop imposing death sentences until Parliament finds a way to guarantee a jury trial for all capital cases
- JANUARY 21, 1999RussiaDEATH PENALTY
On January 21, Anatoly Pristavkin, a writer and chairman...
On January 21, Anatoly Pristavkin, a writer and chairman of the presidential pardons commission, said it was a struggle to persuade the public of the need to do away with capital punishment
- JANUARY 1, 1999RussiaDEATH 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
- JANUARY 1, 1999RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty can be imposed for such crimes as...
The death penalty can be imposed for such crimes as high treason and aggravated murder, among others
- JANUARY 1, 1999RussiaDEATH PENALTY
In 1998, 149 death-row prisoners were pardoned
In 1998, 149 death-row prisoners were pardoned