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
- JANUARY 19, 2003RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Chechenpress news agency reported that the mutilated...
Chechenpress news agency reported that the mutilated corpse of a local resident was found in the suburbs of Argun (eastern Chechnya) on 17 January 2003
- JANUARY 16, 2003RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The European Court of Human Rights declared as admissible...
The European Court of Human Rights declared as admissible six cases lodged against Russia for events in Chechnya
- JANUARY 1, 2003RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is a legal punishment for crimes...
The death penalty is a legal punishment for crimes committed in peacetime and in wartime
- JANUARY 1, 2003RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russia is committed to abolishing the death penalty...
Russia is committed to abolishing the death penalty as a member of the Council of Europe, and a moratorium on executions is in place
- JANUARY 1, 2003RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The last execution in Russia took place on September 2, 1996
The last execution in Russia took place on September 2, 1996
- JANUARY 1, 2003RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The federal Criminal Code of the Russian Federation...
The federal Criminal Code of the Russian Federation envisages the death penalty for five crimes
- JANUARY 1, 2003RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russia has had a moratorium on executions since 1996
Russia has had a moratorium on executions since 1996
- DECEMBER 24, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
A group of parliamentarians of Georgia intended to...
A group of parliamentarians of Georgia intended to appeal to Supreme Court Chairman Vladimir Chanturia requesting him not to approve the decision adopted by the Prosecutor General's Office on the extradition to Russia of three Chechens detained in early
- DECEMBER 17, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Supreme Court Chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev said that...
Supreme Court Chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev said that jury-based courts would begin to operate in 70 of Russia's 89 regions on January 1, 2003
- DECEMBER 9, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russian human rights commissioner Oleg Mironov stated...
Russian human rights commissioner Oleg Mironov stated that if Chechen opposition leader Akhmed Zakayev were to be extradited from Denmark to Russia his trial must be open
- DECEMBER 6, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Council of Europe urged Russia to finally ban the...
The Council of Europe urged Russia to finally ban the death penalty
- NOVEMBER 30, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Gennady Raikov, the leader of the new People's Party,...
Gennady Raikov, the leader of the new People's Party, stated that the party would consistently campaign for Russia to bring back the death penalty and outlaw homosexuality, explaining that the country had too high a crime rate to dispose of capital punish
- NOVEMBER 22, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The local Tanzanian newspaper Daily News reported that...
The local Tanzanian newspaper Daily News reported that Zanzibar President Amani Abeid Karume reversed the death penalty passed on two Russian citizens
- NOVEMBER 19, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Moscow "is deeply satisfied with the decision of the...
Moscow "is deeply satisfied with the decision of the Tanzanian president to change the death sentence of Russian citizens Ivan Ochirov and Dmitry Kosyakov to life in prison," the Russian foreign ministry reported "The authorities of Tanzania have expresse
- NOVEMBER 5, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Harlem Desir, French member of the European Parliament's...
Harlem Desir, French member of the European Parliament's Socialist Group, expressed concern that envisaging the extradition of Mr Akhmed Zakaiev, who was arrested at Russia's request when representing the Chechen President Mashkadov at the World Congress
- OCTOBER 30, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Akhmed Zakayev, one of Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov's...
Akhmed Zakayev, one of Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov's closest associates, was arrested on October 26 in Denmark after Moscow accused him of involvement in the theater siege and other "terror attacks
- OCTOBER 21, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
A national traitor, a certain Zhanayev, has been executed...
A national traitor, a certain Zhanayev, has been executed in the village of Tovzeni under a sentence by the Shari'ah court
- OCTOBER 18, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The People's Party, which is led by Gennadii Raikov,...
The People's Party, which is led by Gennadii Raikov, head of the People's Deputy faction in the Duma, called for the immediate introduction of trials by jury in each region so that the death penalty can be reinstated, regions
- OCTOBER 7, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The European [Human Rights] Court has requested that...
The European [Human Rights] Court has requested that the handover of Chechen fighters to Russia be suspended and that Georgia provide an explanation
- OCTOBER 7, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Prosecutor General's office of Georgia will continue...
The Prosecutor General's office of Georgia will continue investigation against eight remaining Chechens
- OCTOBER 5, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Justice Minister Yuri Chaika made a statement advocating...
Justice Minister Yuri Chaika made a statement advocating his view for a complete ban on the capital punishment in Russia
- OCTOBER 5, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russian Justice Minister Yuriy Chayka advocated a complete...
Russian Justice Minister Yuriy Chayka advocated a complete ban on capital punishment in Russia
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Yelena Timchenko, a female of Russian citizenship,...
Yelena Timchenko, a female of Russian citizenship, was sentenced to death in China's Yongan province for drug smuggling, a report from the Russian Foreign Ministry revealed
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Russian military handed over to local Chechen police...
The Russian military handed over to local Chechen police of Sernovodsk village in Chechnya's Sunzhenskiy District the remains of an unknown young man, which were torn to pieces
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The director of the information centre of the Russian-Chechen...
The director of the information centre of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, Imran Ezhiyev, provided statistics of crimes committed by Russian occupiers on the territory of Chechnya between July 15 and August 15
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that a new burial site of residents...
It was reported that a new burial site of residents of the Chechen Republic was found in a former stud farm in the village of Goragorskiy in Nadterechnyy District
- AUGUST 18, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The four Chechen policemen who died in the village...
The four Chechen policemen who died in the village of Martan-Chu on August 16 were killed by rebels in keeping with a verdict of a Shariah court, head of the Urus-Martan district administration Shirvani Yasayev told Interfax
- AUGUST 12, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Chief Prosecutor of Prosecutor General's Office of...
Chief Prosecutor of Prosecutor General's Office of Russia George Tsurtsumia actively cooperates with Prosecutor General's Office of Georgia regarding issue of extradition of Chechens detained for penetration of border
- AUGUST 9, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Communists presented four questions to be raised...
The Communists presented four questions to be raised in a projected referendum aimed at blocking the government's reforms
- JULY 31, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russia lashed out at Saudi Arabia for handing down...
Russia lashed out at Saudi Arabia for handing down light jail sentences to two Chechens who hijacked a Russian plane at knifepoint last year, saying the verdict could make the kingdom look like a "breeding ground for potential terrorists