my-server
← Wiki

2025 in Russia

Events in the year 2025 in Russia.

Incumbents

Ongoing

Events

January

  • 1 January – A Mil Mi-28 helicopter crashes in Voronezh Oblast.
  • 11 January – Ukraine announces the capture of two North Korean soldiers during fighting in Russia's Kursk Oblast.
  • 17 January – Iran and Russia sign a "comprehensive strategic partnership treaty".
  • 23 January – The Russian spy vessel Kidin is reported to have caught fire off the coast of Syria.
  • 29 January – An illegal logger opens fire at forest rangers trying to arrest him in Usokhi, Kaluga Oblast, killing three rangers and holding two others hostage before committing suicide.

February

  • 6 February – Yury Borisov is dismissed as director-general of Roscosmos by President Putin and is replaced by Gonets head Dmitry Bakanov.
  • 8 February –
  • An underwater cable in the Baltic Sea owned by Rostelecom is damaged following an "external impact".
  • At least eight people are injured in a fire at the former Elektrozavod building in Moscow.
  • 9 February – A state of emergency is declared in Sakhalin Oblast after the Chinese cargo vessel An Ying 2 runs aground off the coast of Nevelsky District.
  • 11 February –
  • The European Court of Human Rights rules that the Russian government had engaged in "a coordinated effort to suppress dissent" over its invasion of Ukraine.
  • Marc Fogel, an American teacher detained in Russia for drugs charges since 2021, is released and repatriated to the United States as part of a prisoner exchange.
  • 12 February – US President Donald Trump announces the beginning of negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine following a phone call with President Putin.
  • 13 February –
  • The FSB says that it had killed several members of a terrorist group plotting an attack on the Pskov train station following a shootout.
  • Two miners are killed in a collapse at a potash mine operated by Uralkali in Solikamsk, Perm Krai.
  • Cryptocurrency exchange operator Alexander Vinnik, who had been imprisoned in the United States for a cybercrime conviction, is released and repatriated to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange.
  • 17 February – Konstantin Rachalovsky, the deputy governor of Rostov Oblast, is arrested on suspicion of abuse of power over the provision of state subsidies amounting to 155.2 million rubles ($1.7 million) to financially distressed companies that eventually went bankrupt.
  • 18 February – Russia and the United States began official discussions in Saudi Arabia on ending the war in Ukraine.
  • 26 February – Denis Alexeyev, the deputy governor of Vologda Oblast, is arrested along with Kirill Bocharov, head of the Vologda Oblast representative office in Moscow, on suspicion of receiving part of a 100 million ruble ($1.1 million) bribe.
  • 27 February – A man is arrested for throwing a grenade at the entrance to the regional administration office of Samara Oblast in Samara.
  • 28 February – The FSB arrests two church officials on suspicion of plotting to kill Russian Orthodox bishop Tikhon Shevkunov, who is close to Putin.

March

  • 3 March – The FSB says it shot and killed a man who planned "terrorist attacks" on the Moscow metro and a Jewish religious institution in Moscow.
  • 4 March – Nikolai Onishchenko, the head of Zavyalovsky District, Altai Krai, is shot dead while leaving a cafe in Zavyalovo.
  • 5 March – Four suspected Islamic State militants are killed in an "anti-terrorist operation" in Makhachkala, Dagestan.
  • 10 March – Two British diplomats are expelled from Russia for alleged spying.
  • 11 March – Two students are injured in a knife attack at a school in Nizhny Novgorod. The suspect, who is also a student, is arrested.
  • 13 March – The Russian defence ministry says its forces had retaken Sudzha, Kursk Oblast from Ukraine.
  • 18 March –
  • The Ukrainian military launches a major incursion into Belgorod Oblast.
  • Yury Bezdudny resigns as Governor of Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
  • A Mil Mi-28 helicopter of the Russian military crashes in Leningrad Oblast, killing its entire crew.
  • 31 March – Konstantin Rudnev, the founder of the Ashram Shambala sect, is arrested along with 13 of his followers in Argentina on human trafficking charges.

April

  • 1 April – President Putin orders a ban on government, telecommunications and banking sector employees from using foreign messaging applications.
  • 2 April – A Tu-22M3 bomber crashes in Usolsky District, Irkutsk Oblast, killing one of its four crew.
  • 3 April – The State Duma expels Yury Napso as a deputy of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia for failing to attend its sessions without valid reason since 2023.
  • 4 April – Three Moldovan diplomats are expelled from Russia in retaliation for Moldova expelling three Russian diplomats it accused of involvement in facilitating the escape of fugitive MP Alexandr Nesterovschi.
  • 8 April – Dual US-Russian national Ksenia Karelina, who had been imprisoned in Russia for donating to a charity providing humanitarian aid for Ukraine, is released and repatriated to the United States following a prisoner exchange in the United Arab Emirates that sees the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested on suspicion of supplying manufacturers linked to the Russian military with microelectronics.
  • 9 April – The Romanian defense attaché and his deputy are expelled from Russia in retaliation for Romania expelling their Russian counterparts in March.
  • 17 April –
  • The Supreme Court of Russia removes the Taliban from Russia's list of designated terrorist organizations.
  • Vadim Shamarin, the former deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, is convicted and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment by a court martial for accepting 36 million rubles ($437,600) in bribes from a phone manufacturing plant in exchange for state contracts and “general patronage.”
  • 22 April – Four people, including three soldiers, are injured in an explosion at the arsenal of the 51st Main Missile and Artillery Directorate in Kirzhachsky District, Vladimir Oblast.
  • 23 April – A state of emergency is declared in Zabaykalsky Krai due to wildfires.
  • 25 April – Major General Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, is killed in a car bombing in Balashikha, Moscow Oblast.
  • 26 April – Russian forces announce the clearing of Kursk Oblast from Ukrainian forces.

May

June

  • 1 June – Ukraine launches Operation Spider's Web, a series of drone attacks on Russian air bases as far as Irkutsk Oblast.
  • 8 June – A ship towing two barges runs aground and breaks apart along the Yenisei River in Kazachinsky District, Krasnoyarsk Krai, spilling around 79.3 metric tons of diesel fuel and causing an oil spill reaching up to 50 kilometers along the shoreline that results in 1.2 billion rubles ($15.3 million) in environmental damage.
  • 9 June – The mayor of Krasnoyarsk, Vladislav Loginov, is arrested on suspicion of accepting more than 180 million rubles ($2.3 million) in bribes. He resigns on 15 September.
  • 17 June – The Supreme Court of Russia orders the dissolution of the Civic Initiative party for failing to participate in elections since 2018, during which its candidates were blocked from registering by election officials.
  • 25 June – The FSB arrests two Moldovan nationals on suspicion of spying for Moldova.
  • 27 June –
  • A state of emergency is declared in Izhevsk following a fuel leak of undetermined origin that began on 29 May and contaminated the Starkovka River.
  • Two Azerbaijani nationals die following a raid by Russian authorities in Yekaterinburg, triggering a diplomatic dispute between Moscow and Azerbaijan.
  • 30 June – Religious leader Vissarion is sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment by a court in Novosibirsk for harming the mental and physical health of his followers in the .

July

  • 1 July –
  • Former deputy defense minister Timur Ivanov is convicted and sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment by the Moscow City Court for embezzling 3.9 billion rubles ($50 million) in public funds.
  • An Su-34 fighter-bomber of the Russian Aerospace Forces crashes during a training flight in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast following a suspected mechanical failure. The two crew members safely eject.
  • 3 July –
  • Major General Mikhail Gudkov, the deputy commander of the Russian Navy, is killed along with 10 people in a suspected Ukrainian missile attack in Kursk Oblast.
  • Russia becomes the first country to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan since they retook power in 2021.
  • 7 July –
  • Roman Starovoit is dismissed as minister of transportation and is found dead in a suspected suicide hours later.
  • Former deputy Rosgvardiya director Viktor Strigunov is arrested on suspicion of bribery involving the construction of a training facility in Kemerovo Oblast.
  • 8 July – A Sokol Altius military drone crashes into a dacha during a training flight in Tatarstan. No injuries are reported.
  • 9 July – The European Court of Human Rights finds Russia responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
  • 11 July – Russia orders the closure of the Polish consulate in Kaliningrad in response to Poland's decision to close the Russian consulate in Kraków in May.
  • 14 July –
  • A Mil Mi-8 helicopter crashes northeast of Okhotsk, Khabarovsk Krai, killing all five people on board.
  • Three people are killed in a lightning strike at a resort in Tula Oblast.
  • 16 July – The Federal Customs Service and the FSB seize 820 kilograms of cocaine valued at 12 billion rubles ($153 million) hidden under a shipment of bananas from South America.
  • 20 July –
  • A magnitude 7.4 earthquake hits off the coast of Kamchatka, triggering a tsunami.
  • A Moscow court fines bookstore Falalster and its founder for selling books deemed LGBTQA+ “propaganda.”
  • 21 July – A bus carrying mine workers falls into a ravine in Sakha Republic, killing 13 people and injuring 20 others.
  • 22 July –
  • Gleb Trifonov, the editor-in-chief of the Telegram-based media outlet Baza, is arrested in Moscow on bribery charges.
  • A state of emergency is declared in Tuva due to wildfires.
  • 23 July –
  • The Supreme Court of Russia designates the "International Satanist Movement" as an extremist organization.
  • President Putin signs a law allowing Belarusian citizens living as permanent residents in Russia to vote in local elections and run for local office.
  • 24 July –
  • Angara Airlines Flight 2311, a Antonov An-24 operated by Angara Airlines, crashes near Tynda, Amur Oblast, killing all 48 people on board.
  • Maksim Yegorov, the former governor of Tambov Oblast, is arrested on bribery charges.
  • 25 July –
  • Six people, including a child, are killed in a gas explosion at an apartment building in Saratov.
  • A state of emergency is declared in parts of Voronezh Oblast due to agricultural damage caused by a storm.
  • 26 July – A fire at an electrical substation causes a major power outage in Makhachkala.
  • 27 July – The Russian airliner Nordwind launches flights to Pyongyang, marking the first commercial flights between Russia and North Korea.
  • 28 July – A cyberattack is carried out on the flag carrier Aeroflot and its subsidiaries Rossiya Airlines and Pobeda, causing disruptions to hundreds of flights.
  • 30 July –
  • 2025 Kamchatka Peninsula earthquake: A earthquake hits off the coast of Kamchatka Krai, triggering a tsunami that hits parts of the Kuril Islands and other damages in Sakhalin Oblast.
  • The Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano erupts in Kamchatka Krai.
  • Federal agency Rospotrebnadzor blocks web service Speedtest after identifying alleged threats to the security of the public communications network and a segment of the Internet in the country.
  • The Justice Ministry designates Alexey Navalny's memoir, Patriot, as extremist material.
  • 31 July – President Putin signs laws criminalizing online access and searches for online deemed as extremist, and banning the advertising of VPN services.

August

  • 1 August –
  • President Putin signs a law allowing police to preemptively freeze bank accounts without a court order.
  • A state of emergency is declared in parts of Kabardino-Balkaria due to mudslides caused by heavy rains near Mount Elbrus.
  • US President Donald Trump orders the repositioning of two nuclear submarines to "appropriate regions" in response to highly-charged comments made by former Russian president and deputy National Security Council chair Dmitry Medvedev.
  • 2 August – Authorities designate Sakhalin Oblast as the first Russian region to achieve carbon neutrality.
  • 3 August – The Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupts for the first time since the 15th century.
  • 4 August –
  • A cargo train hits a tourist bus at a level-crossing in Lodeynopolsky District, Leningrad Oblast, killing one person.
  • Authorities announce the deaths of three people suspected of plotting attacks against police officers in a shootout near Islamei, Kabardino-Balkaria.
  • Russia ends a voluntary ban on its deployment of intermediate-range missiles, citing threats from the United States and other Western countries.
  • 5 August – The government designates the Zimin Foundation as an "undesirable organization".
  • 6 August –
  • Four people, including a soldier, are killed in a grenade explosion in Kurkino, Tula Oblast.
  • President Putin signs a decree allowing Russia to increase its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2035 compared with 2021 levels.
  • 11 August – Major General Denis Putilov, the former head of the armored vehicle service of the Central Military District, is sentenced by a court-martial to eight years' imprisonment for accepting a 10-million-ruble ($126,000) bribe over a state defense contract.
  • 14 August –
  • The government designates Reporters Without Borders as an "undesirable organization".
  • Three workers are killed in a fall at a power plant in Vladivostok.
  • A judge is found murdered in Kamyshin, Volgograd Oblast.
  • 15 August –
  • Twenty-eight workers are killed in an explosion at a gunpowder factory in Lesnoy, Ryazan Oblast.
  • President Putin holds a summit meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska.
  • 24 August – One person is killed in a gas explosion at the Central Children's Store on Lubyanka in Moscow.
  • 25 August – Vladimir Bazarov, the deputy governor of Kursk Oblast, is arrested on suspicion of embezzling funds meant for border fortifications when he was deputy governor of Belgorod Oblast.
  • 27 August – Dmitry Naumov, the mayor of Vladimir, is arrested amid accusations of fraud and involvement in organized crime.
  • 29 August –
  • The first imported case of chikungunya in Russia is detected in a patient in Moscow who had traveled to Sri Lanka.
  • Around 30 cubic meters of oil leak out during loading at the Port of Novorossiysk, causing an oil spill that affects around 350 square kilometers of the Black Sea.
  • Authorities seize 1.5 metric tons of cocaine valued at more than 20 billion rubles ($240 million) from a ship carrying bananas from Ecuador that docked in Saint Petersburg.

September

October

  • 3 October –
  • At least 41 people are reported to have died after consuming bootleg alcohol in Leningrad Oblast.
  • An Antonov An-2 aircraft operated by Borus Airlines crashes near Tanzybei in Krasnoyarsk Krai, killing its two pilots.
  • 9 October –
  • President Putin admits that Russian air defenses were responsible for the shooting down of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 over Chechnya in 2024.
  • A MiG-31 crashes in Lipetsk Oblast, the two pilots on board eject safely.
  • 10 October – The first direct passenger flight from Riyadh to Moscow, operated by Saudi Arabian flag carrier Saudia, lands at Sheremetyevo Airport.
  • 14 October – The European Court of Human Rights orders Russia to pay Georgia more than 250 million euros ($289,000,000) for violations committed following the Russo-Georgian War in 2008.
  • 17 October – Three people are killed in an explosion at an explosives factory in Sterlitamak, Bashkortostan.
  • 18 October – An outbreak of food poisoning connected to ready-made food products sold in grocery stores breaks out in Buryatia, resulting in at least 121 people being hospitalized.
  • 20 October – A passenger aircraft operated by Azerbaijan Airlines skids off the runway of Pulkovo Airport in Saint Petersburg while performing an emergency landing due to a landing gear malfunction, resulting in the evacuation of all 155 passengers.
  • 22 October – The US imposes sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil.
  • 23 October – An explosion at a munitions plant in Kopeysk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, kills 23 people and injures 19 others.
  • 28 October – A massive power outage caused by a broken lightning-protection cable falling onto a high-voltage transmission line hits central and southern Sakhalin Oblast.
  • 31 October – A tram derails and collides with two minibuses on a bridge in Tula, killing four people.

November

December

  • 1 December –
  • President Putin signs an executive order suspending visa requirements for Chinese nationals until 14 September 2026.
  • Saudi Arabia and Russia sign an agreement on mutual visa exemption for each other's citizens.
  • 2 December –
  • The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturns a ban imposed by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation on Russian athletes competing as neutrals since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
  • The State Duma expels Anatoly Voronovsky as an MP for United Russia amid an investigation against him for bribery.
  • 3 December –
  • The Babushkinsky District Court in Moscow convicts imprisoned former Khabarovsk Krai governor Sergey Furgal on charges of involvement in organized crime and sentences him to an additional 23 years in prison.
  • At least 484 Caspian seals are found dead in a mass die-off along the Caspian Sea coast of Dagestan.
  • The government blocks access to Roblox, accusing it of containing "inappropriate content" for children.
  • 4 December –
  • A public inquiry in the United Kingdom finds president Putin "morally responsible" for the death of Dawn Sturgess from Novichok poisoning in the aftermath of the attempted assassination of former double agent Sergei Skripal in 2018. The UK government subsequently imposes sanctions on the GRU over the attack.
  • A two-week mask mandate is imposed in Blagoveshchensk due an increase in cases of respiratory diseases.
  • The government announces that it had blocked access to FaceTime and Snapchat, accusing the applications of being used for terrorist and criminal purposes.
  • 8 December – The Supreme Court designates the Poland-based Congress of People's Deputies led by exiled former MP Ilya Ponomarev as a terrorist organization.
  • 9 December –
  • The Supreme Court voids a 2013 decree that allowed courts in Russia to apply the European Convention on Human Rights and adhere to the European Court of Human Rights.
  • An AN-22 military transport aircraft carrying seven people crashes during a test flight in Ivanovo Oblast, killing everyone on board.
  • 11 December – Two people are killed in an explosion at a laboratory of the Perm National Research Polytechnic University in Perm.
  • 12 December – The Moscow City Court convicts International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan and eight ICC judges in absentia over their investigations into alleged war crimes by Russian nationals during the Russo-Ukrainian war and sentences them to up to 15 years' imprisonment.
  • 12 December – A court in Moscow designates Pussy Riot as an "extremist organization".
  • 14 December – FIDE allows Russian chess players to compete under their national flag for the first time since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2022.
  • 15 December – President Putin signs a law allowing the clearing of forests deemed to have lost their ecological, water-protection and other protective functions along Lake Baikal.
  • 16 December –
  • One person is killed while another is injured in a knife attack at a high school in Gorki-2, Moscow Oblast.
  • The government designates Deutsche Welle as an "undesirable organization".
  • A court in Yekaterinburg sentences five self-described Marxists from Bashkortostan to up to 22 years' imprisonment on charges of terrorism and plotting a coup.
  • 22 December –
  • The head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian General Staff, Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, is killed in a car bombing in Moscow.
  • The Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science suspends the operating license of the Moscow School for the Social and Economic Sciences amid allegations over poor accreditation and quality issues.
  • A court in Mordovia issues the first fine issued in Russia for the offense of coercing a woman to undertake an abortion.
  • The State Duma dismisses 15 parliamentary aides for illegally selling seats at legislative roundtables to outside individuals and business groups that were supposed to be free.
  • 24 December – Three people, including two police officers and the suspect, are killed in an suspected bomb attack in Moscow.
  • 25 December –
  • The FSB says it had killed a person accused of plotting bomb attacks in Kaluga Oblast following a shootout.
  • A court-martial in Moscow sentences far-left activist Sergei Udaltsov to six years' imprisonment on charges of "justifying terrorism" regarding his support for a Marxist group arrested in Ufa for terrorism-related offenses in 2022.
  • 26 December –
  • A court in Kursk Oblast sentences former Kursk Oblast Duma deputy Maxim Vasilyev to 5.5 years' imprisonment on charges of embezzling funds meant to strengthen the region's defenses along the border with Ukraine.
  • The first two stations of the Krasnoselsk-Kalininskaya Line of the Saint Petersburg Metro are opened.
  • 29 December –
  • President Putin signs a law relieving Russian courts of obligations to enforce criminal rulings issued by foreign courts or international judicial bodies to which Russia is not a member.
  • The government designates George Washington University as an "undesirable organization".
  • Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accuses Ukraine of carrying out an unsuccessful drone attack on Putin's residence near Lake Valdayskoye in Novgorod Oblast.

Holidays

Deaths

See also

References

External links