2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

is the 31st year of the Russian Federation.

Leadership

President of Russia The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the State Council (Russia), Federal State Council and the President of Russia#Commander-in-ch ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

Prime Minister of Russia The prime minister of the Russian Federation, also domestically stylized as the chairman of the government of the Russian Federation and widely recognized as the prime minister, is the head of government of Russia and the second highest ranking ...

Mikhail Mishustin Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin (born 3 March 1966) is a Russian politician and economist serving as the current prime minister of Russia since 16 January 2020. He previously served as the director of the Federal Taxation Service from 2010 to ...

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the

Federation Council The Federation Council, unofficially Senate, is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, with the lower house being the State Duma. It was established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993. Each of the 89 federal s ...

: Valentina Matvienko * Chairman of the

State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...

Vyacheslav Volodin Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin (, ; born 4 February 1964) is a Russian politician who currently serves as the 10th Chairman of the State Duma since 2016. He is a former aide to President Vladimir Putin. The former Secretary-General of the Unit ...

Events

''Ongoing:

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

;

COVID-19 pandemic in Russia The COVID-19 pandemic in Russia was a part of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Russia on 31 January 2020, when two Chinese citi ...

'' (initially) *28 January – 20th Russian Golden Eagle Awards ceremony *3 February – in retaliation to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

's broadcasting regulator's decision to ban transmission of the

Russian state Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

-run RT Deutsch channel over a lack of a broadcasting license, the Russian foreign ministry said that it would shut down

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

bureau, strip all DW staff of their accreditation and terminate broadcasting of DW in Russia. It also stated that it would begin the procedure of designating DW as a "

foreign agent A foreign agent is any person or entity actively carrying out the interests of a foreign principal while located in another host country, generally outside the Diplomatic immunity, protections offered to those working in their official capacity fo ...

". *15 February – The Russian

votes to ask President

to recognize the self-declared

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

and

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

People's Republics in Ukraine as independent nations. The bill was proposed by the Communist Party. *21 February – Putin announces that Russia has recognized the self-declared

and

People's Republics in Ukraine as independent nations. This came after the Duma asked for it a week ago. *24 February – Russia launches a large-scale invasion of Ukraine from

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

and

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. *10 March - After Russia was suspended from the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

in the wake of its

2022 invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, and subsequently announced its intention to withdraw from the organization, former President (2008–2012) and Prime Minister (2012–2020)

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...

endorsed restoring the death penalty in Russia. *27 March -

Leonid Pasechnik Leonid Ivanovich Pasechnik (; ; born 15 March 1970) is a Russian politician who has served as head of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) since 2017. He holds the position in acting capacity ever since the Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson ...

leader of the LPR said that the

Luhansk People's Republic The Luhansk People's Republic (LPR; , ) is a disputed territory administered as a republic of Russia in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, with its capital in Luhansk. The LPR was proclaimed by Russian-backed paramilitar ...

may hold a referendum to join Russia in the near future. *30 March - A few days later

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

n President

Anatoly Bibilov Anatoly Ilyich Bibilov (; , ; born 6 February 1970) is a South Ossetian military officer, was the fourth president of South Ossetia. He succeeded Leonid Tibilov as president on 21 April 2017 to 24 May 2022, following his election victory, but ...

announced his intention to begin legal proceedings in the near future to integration with the Russian Federation. *26 April - Veshkayma kindergarten shooting *16 May - After temporarily closing its restaurants,

McDonald's in Russia From 1990 to 2022, the American fast food chain McDonald's operated and franchised McDonald's restaurants in Russia. After 14 years of planning and negotiations, McDonald's Canada president George Cohon, Frederick Braun was permitted to open the ...

company decided to exit Russia altogether. the company announced that it would sell all of its restaurants in Russia. It would be replaced by the Russian Vkusno i tochka. *2 August - The Russian Supreme Court declare the

Azov Regiment The 12th Special Forces Brigade "Azov" () is a formation of the National Guard of Ukraine formerly based in Mariupol, in the coastal region of the Sea of Azov, from which it derives its name. It was founded in May 2014 as the Azov Battalion (), ...

as a

terrorist organization Several national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and former ...

. *18 August - Russia revives the Soviet-era Mother Heroine award for women with 10 children. *21 August - A

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, van bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roug ...

kills Darya Dugina, daughter of

Alexander Dugin Aleksandr Gelyevich Dugin (; born 7 January 1962) is a Russian far-right political philosopher. He is the leading theorist of Russian neo-Eurasianism. Born into a military intelligence family, Dugin was an anti-communist dissident during the ...

, an ideological advisor of Putin, who was due to travel in the same car. *31 August – War-related emigration following the Russian invasion of Ukraine reached 500,000. *18–19 September – A small but significant tornado outbreak affects Ukraine and Russia, killing three people. *19 September - the public chambers of the

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR; , ) is Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied territory in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex and declared as a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia, comprising parts o ...

and

appealed to their heads of state with a request to "immediately" hold a referendum on joining Russia. *20 September - the People's Council of the

scheduled a referendum on the republic's entry into Russia as a

federal subject The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation () or simply as the subjects of the federation (), are the administrative division, constituent entities of Russia, its top-level political division ...

for 23–27 September. Soon after, the People's Council of the

announced that the referendum on the entry of the DPR into the Russian Federation would be held on the same date. *21 September - President

announced the

2022 Russian mobilization On 21 September 2022, seven months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia declared a partial mobilization of Reservist, military reservists. The decision was made a day after the announcement of 2022 annexation referendums in Russian-occ ...

. *26 September - Izhevsk school shooting *27 September -

2022 annexation referendums in Russian-occupied Ukraine In late September 2022, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian-installed officials in Ukraine staged so-called referendums on the annexation of occupied territories of Ukraine by Russia. They were widely described as sham r ...

**According to the results released by Russian occupation authorities in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, the

, as well as occupied parts of

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia, formerly known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk until 1921, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia ...

and

Kherson Oblast Kherson Oblast (, ; ), also known as Khersonshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in southern Ukraine. It is located just north of Crimea. Its administrative center is Kherson, on the northern or right bank ...

s overwhelmingly vote in favor of

annexation Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held t ...

, with 99.23%, 98.42%, 93.11% and 87.05% of support, respectively. Turnout exceeded 75% in each region and exceeded 97% in Donetsk Oblast. However, the voting has been widely dismissed as a sham referendum. *30 September - President

signed decrees recognizing the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions as independent territories. ** Putin announced in a speech that Russia had annexed the four regions occupied during the conflict. *17 October - 2022 Yeysk military aircraft crash *23 October - 2022 Irkutsk military aircraft crash *27 October - The

unanimously gives preliminary approval to a bill strengthening a law against " propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations". The bill will expand the ban on "propaganda" to all ages, and will outlaw media and online resources, including films, books, and theater productions. *5 November - Kostroma café fire *24 November - The

passes a bill strengthening a law against " propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations". The bill will expand the ban on "propaganda" to all ages, and will outlaw media and online resources, including films, books, and theater productions. *5 December - President

signs into law the " propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" *8 December - Viktor Bout–Brittney Griner prisoner exchange *23 December -

2022 Kemerovo nursing home fire On the evening of 23 December 2022, a private house operating as an unauthorized nursing home caught fire in Kemerovo, Russia, killing 22 people and injuring six. Background In 2021, the Ministry of Emergency Situations proposed introducing a ...

Deaths

January

*3 January – Olga Gavrilova, 64, Russian javelin thrower. *5 January – Filza Khamidullin, 86, Russian economist and politician,

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

(2003–2005). *6 January – Vladimir Gudev, 81, Russian diplomat, Soviet ambassador to Iran (1987–1993), Egypt (1995–2000) and Georgia (2000–2002). *7 January – **

Anatoly Kvashnin Anatoly Vasilyevich Kvashnin (; 15 August 1946 – 7 January 2022) was a Russian general of the army who served as the Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces from 1997 to 2004, when he was dismissed by President Vladimir Putin. In ...

, 75, Russian military officer,

chief of the general staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan) * Chief of the General Staff (Albania) * C ...

(1997–2004), COVID-19. ** Alexander Timofeevskiy, 88, Russian writer, songwriter and screenwriter (''

The Stone Flower "The Stone Flower" ( rus, Каменный цветок, Kamennyj tsvetok, p=ˈkamʲɪnːɨj tsvʲɪˈtok), also known as "The Flower of Stone", is a folk tale (also known as ''skaz'') of the Ural region of Russia collected and reworked by Pav ...

''). *8 January – ** Aleksandr Lebedev-Frontov, 61, Russian painter, collagist, and musician. ** Viktor Mazin, 67, Russian weightlifter, Olympic champion (

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

). ** Nina Rocheva, 73, Russian cross-country skier, Olympic silver medallist (

February

*8 February – Valentina Polukhina, literary scholar (b. 1936).

March

*1 March –

Alevtina Kolchina Alevtina Pavlovna Kolchina ( alternate spelling: Alevtina Koltsjina; 11 November 1930 – 1 March 2022) was a Soviet cross-country skier who competed during the 1950s and 1960s for Burevestnik and later for Dynamo sports societies. She competed ...

, 91, Russian cross-country skier, Olympic champion (

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

). *4 March – Valentin Knysh, 84, Russian politician,

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

(1995–2003). *7 March – Vasily Astafyev, 102, Russian

Soviet army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

colonel.

April

*6 April –

Vladimir Zhirinovsky Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky (, , né Eidelstein, ; 25 April 1946 – 6 April 2022) was a Russian right-wing populist politician and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) from its creation in 1992 until his death in 20 ...

, leader of the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

Liberal Democratic Party of Russia LDPR – Liberal Democratic Party of Russia () is a Russian Ultranationalism, ultranationalist and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist List of political parties in Russia, political party. It succeeded the Liberal Democratic Party of the ...

(b. 1946).

May

*2 May – Yuri Vasenin, 73, Russian football player ( Zaria Voroshilovgrad, Soviet Union national team) and manager ( Baltika Kaliningrad). *4 May – Yuliya Voyevodina, 50, Russian Olympic racewalker (

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

). *7 May –

Yuri Averbakh Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. Averbakh was the first centenarian FIDE Grandmaster. Despite his eyesight and ...

, 100, Russian chess grandmaster and author.

June

*1 June – Aleksandr Berketov, 46, Russian footballer (

Rotor Volgograd SC Rotor Volgograd () is a Russian professional football club from the large city of Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast (formerly Stalingrad). The club plays in the second-tier Russian First League, and are the largest and best supported Volgograd club. ...

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

). *2 June – ** Andrey Gaponov-Grekhov, 95, Russian physicist. **

Anatoly Pokrovsky Anatoly Vladimirovich Pokrovsky (; 21 November 1930 – 2 June 2022) was a Russian vascular surgeon Vascular surgery is a surgical subspecialty in which vascular diseases involving the arteries, veins, or lymphatic vessels, are managed by me ...

, 91, Russian vascular surgeon.

July

*1 July – ** Yuri Khaliullin, 78, Russian naval officer. **

Stanislav Leonovich Stanislav Viktorovich Leonovich (; 22 July 1958 – 1 July 2022) was a Russian figure skating coach and pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With his skating partner, Marina Pestova, he became a two-time World medalist (silver in 198 ...

, 63, Russian Olympic figure skater (

). *2 July – ** Dmitry Kolker, 54, Russian physicist, pancreatic cancer. ** Leonid Shvartsman, 101, Russian animator (''

Cheburashka Cheburashka ( rus, Чебурашка, a=ru-Cheburashka.ogg, p=t͡ɕɪbʊˈraʂkə), also known as ''Topple'' in earlier English translations, is a fictional character created by Soviet writer Eduard Uspensky in his 1965 children's book ''Gena ...

'', '' 38 Parrots'', ''

The Scarlet Flower The Scarlet Flower (), also known as The Little Scarlet Flower or The Little Red Flower, is a Russian literary fairy tale written by Sergey Aksakov. It is a variation of the plot of the fairy tale ''Beauty and the Beast''. In Russia, ''Beauty an ...

'').

August

*1 August – Mikhail Golovatov, 72, Russian intelligence officer (

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

). *2 August – Nikolay Yefimov, 89, Russian journalist. *30 August –

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

, the 8th and final

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

and 10th and last

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

recipient (b. 1931).

September

*1 September –

Ravil Maganov Ravil Ulfatovich Maganov (25 September 1954 – 1 September 2022) was a Russian oligarch who was the chairman of the national oil company Lukoil. Early life and education Maganov was born in Almetyevsk, Tatar ASSR, in the Soviet Union (no ...

, 67, Russian petroleum executive ( Lukoil), fall. *4 September –

Boris Lagutin Boris Nikolayevich Lagutin (; 24 June 1938 – 4 September 2022)1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

References

{{Russian invasion of Ukraine

2020s in Russia Years of the 21st century in Russia