Russia has the death penalty on the books but does not use it. Capital punishment remains listed in the Russian Criminal Code for a handful of the gravest offenses, yet no one has been executed in Russia since August 1996. A presidential decree, two Constitutional Court rulings, and a treaty commitment made when Russia joined the Council of Europe have combined to freeze the penalty in place. Human rights bodies classify Russia as “abolitionist in practice.”
When Russia Last Carried Out an Execution
The last confirmed execution was the shooting of serial killer Sergey Golovkin on August 2, 1996, though some accounts reference an unnamed individual executed the following month. Nothing since.
The freeze traces to Russia’s push to join the Council of Europe after the Soviet collapse. Suspending or abolishing the death penalty was a condition of admission. On May 16, 1996, President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree calling for a “stage-by-stage reduction” of executions. The decree stopped short of an outright ban, because public support for capital punishment remained high, but in practice executions stopped almost immediately. Yeltsin later used his pardon power to commute the sentences of more than 700 death row prisoners to life imprisonment or 25-year terms, clearing the backlog.
Crimes That Still Carry the Death Penalty on Paper
Article 59 of the Russian Criminal Code limits capital punishment to “especially grave crimes encroaching on human life.” Five offenses qualify:1Legal Tools Database. Russian Federation Code 63-FZ – Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
- Aggravated murder under Article 105, covering killings with extreme cruelty, multiple victims, or motives such as racial or political hatred.
- Assassination of a statesman or public figure under Article 277, when the attempt is aimed at ending the target’s political activity.
- Killing a judge or criminal investigator under Article 295.
- Killing a law enforcement officer under Article 317.
- Genocide under Article 357.
Terrorism is not on the list. That gap mattered after the March 2024 Crocus City Hall attack, when officials calling to reinstate executions had to reckon with the fact that the code would not permit a death sentence for the attackers even if the moratorium were lifted.
The code also excludes three groups from any death sentence regardless of the offense: women, anyone under eighteen at the time of the crime, and men who have reached sixty-five by the time of sentencing. For anyone who would otherwise face execution, the alternative is life imprisonment or a fixed term of up to twenty-five years. The death penalty has never been mandatory; judges have always had the option of a lesser sentence.1Legal Tools Database. Russian Federation Code 63-FZ – Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
Why Russian Courts Cannot Impose It
The 1996 decree was a political gesture. Two Constitutional Court rulings turned it into binding law.
The 1999 Jury Trial Ruling
In February 1999, the Constitutional Court ruled that no court in Russia could hand down a death sentence until jury trials were available in every region. At the time, only nine of Russia’s eighty-nine regions had functioning juries. The court reasoned that the constitution guarantees equal protection, and sentencing someone to death in a region without juries would deny them a right available to defendants elsewhere. The ruling effectively banned all death sentences nationwide.2Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation Decision No. 1344-O-P
The 2009 “Irreversible Path” Ruling
The 1999 ban had an expiration built in: once every region had jury trials, the legal barrier would disappear. As that moment approached, the Supreme Court asked the Constitutional Court to clarify what would happen next.
The November 2009 answer went well beyond clarification. The court declared that Russia’s long practice of not executing anyone, together with its international commitments, had created a legitimate expectation that the state would not resume executions. It stated that “the path towards the full abolition of the death penalty is irreversible” and ruled that no court in Russia could impose the penalty. The decision was marked as final and not subject to appeal.2Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation Decision No. 1344-O-P
That ruling still holds today.
What Changed When Russia Left the Council of Europe
For most of the moratorium’s history, international law reinforced the domestic ban. In April 1997, Russia signed Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which states: “The death penalty shall be abolished. No-one shall be condemned to such penalty or executed.”3European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. Protocol No. 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty
Russia never ratified the protocol through its parliament, but under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties a signature alone creates an obligation to “refrain from acts which would defeat the object and purpose” of the agreement.4United Nations. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties The 2009 Constitutional Court ruling relied on that obligation as part of its reasoning.
Following the invasion of Ukraine, the Council of Europe expelled Russia on March 16, 2022, and Russia ceased to be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights on September 16, 2022.5Council of Europe. The Russian Federation Is Excluded From the Council of Europe The international treaty layer that had backed the moratorium for over two decades fell away. The Constitutional Court’s 2009 ruling still stands on its own, but one of its supporting arguments no longer applies.
Life Imprisonment in Place of Execution
With the death penalty frozen, life imprisonment is the harshest sentence a Russian court can impose. Life-sentenced prisoners are held in “special regime” penal colonies, the most restrictive category in the Russian prison system, and are confined to small cells rather than the barracks used in lower-security facilities. A prisoner serving life can apply for conditional early release after twenty-five years if they have committed no serious violations of prison rules. If the application is denied, they must wait three more years before reapplying. Parole for life-sentenced prisoners is extraordinarily rare in practice.
Could Russia Bring the Death Penalty Back?
The question is politically live. After the March 2024 attack on Crocus City Hall near Moscow, which killed over 140 people, several prominent officials called for lifting the moratorium. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chair of the Security Council and former president, was among the first. Vladimir Vasilyev, leader of United Russia in the Duma, said the lower house would examine the matter “in line with public expectations.” Polling shortly after the attack showed more than half of Russians supported reinstating capital punishment.
The legal path is narrower than the rhetoric. Senator Andrey Klishas pointed out that terrorism is not among the five crimes eligible for the death penalty, so lifting the moratorium alone would not have permitted execution of the Crocus City Hall attackers. Expanding the list would require amending the criminal code, not just overturning the court’s ban.
The Constitutional Court’s 2009 ruling remains the primary legal barrier. The court called the path toward abolition “irreversible,” and no Russian Constitutional Court has ever overturned one of its own rulings in this way. Legal observers have noted, though, that the court has recently hinted it might revisit the question. President Vladimir Putin has stated over the years that the death penalty should not return, though he has not spoken directly on the issue since the 2024 calls for reinstatement.
For now, the moratorium holds. The criminal code still lists the penalty, the Constitutional Court still forbids its use, and no legislation to change either has advanced through parliament.