2016 in Russia

This article lists events from the year 2016 in Russia.

Incumbents

• President: Vladimir Putin
• Prime Minister: Dmitry Medvedev

Governors

• Amur Oblast: Alexander Kozlov (ER)
• Arkhangelsk Oblast: Igor Orlov (ER)
• Astrakhan Oblast: Alexander Zhilkin (ER)
• Belgorod Oblast: Yevgeny Savchenko (ER)
• Bryansk Oblast: Alexander Bogomaz (ER)
• Chelyabinsk Oblast: Boris Dubrovsky (ER)
• Irkutsk Oblast: Sergey Levchenko (CPRF)
• Ivanovo Oblast: Pavel Konkov (ER)
• Kaliningrad Oblast: Nikolay Tsukanov (until July 28, ER), Yevgeny Zinichev (Acting, Independent, July 28–October 6), Anton Alikhanov (Acting, ER, starting October 6)
• Kaluga Oblast: Anatoly Artamonov (ER)
• Kemerovo Oblast: Aman Tuleyev (ER)
• Kirov Oblast: Nikita Belykh (Independent, until June 27), Igor Vasilyev (starting July 28, ER)
• Kostroma Oblast: Sergey Sitnikov (ER)
• Kurgan Oblast: Alexei Kokorin (ER)
• Kursk Oblast: Aleksandr Mikhailov (ER)
• Leningrad Oblast: Alexander Drozdenko (ER)
• Lipetsk Oblast: Oleg Korolyov (ER)
• Magadan Oblast: Vladimir Pechnyony (ER)
• Moscow Oblast: Andrey Vorobyov (ER)
• Murmansk Oblast: Marina Kovtun (ER)
• Nizhny Novgorod Oblast: Valery Shantsev (ER)
• Novgorod Oblast: Sergey Mitin (ER)
• Novosibirsk Oblast: Vladimir Gorodetsky (ER)
• Omsk Oblast: Viktor Nazarov (ER)
• Orenburg Oblast: Yury Berg (ER)
• Oryol Oblast: Vadim Potomsky (CPRF)
• Penza Oblast: Ivan Belozertsev (ER)
• Pskov Oblast: Andrey Turchak (ER)
• Rostov Oblast: Vasily Golubev (ER)
• Ryazan Oblast: Oleg Kovalyov (ER)
• Sakhalin Oblast: Oleg Kozhemyako (ER)
• Samara Oblast: Nikolai Merkushkin (ER)
• Saratov Oblast: Valery Radaev (ER)
• Smolensk Oblast: Alexey Ostrovsky (LDPR)
• Tambov Oblast: Aleksandr Nikitin (ER)
• Tomsk Oblast: Sergey Zhvachkin (ER)
• Tula Oblast: Vladimir Gruzdev (until February 2, ER), Alexey Dyumin (starting February 2, Independent / ER ally)
• Tver Oblast: Andrey Shevelyov (until March 2, ER), Igor Rudenya (starting March 2, ER)
• Tyumen Oblast: Vladimir Yakushev (ER)
• Ulyanovsk Oblast: Sergey Morozov (ER)
• Vladimir Oblast: Svetlana Orlova (ER)
• Volgograd Oblast: Andrey Bocharov (ER)
• Vologda Oblast: Oleg Kuvshinnikov (ER)
• Voronezh Oblast: Alexey Gordeyev (ER)
• Yaroslavl Oblast: Sergey Yastrebov (until July 28, ER), Dmitry Mironov (starting July 28, Independent / ER ally)
• Jewish Autonomous Oblast: Alexander Levintal (ER)

Events

January

• 1 JanuaryThe presidential decree on dissolving of Russian Federal Space Agency and transforming it into the Roscosmos Space Corporation has come into force.
• 19–23 JanuaryJunior 2016 Russian Figure Skating Championships in Chelyabinsk.

February

• 8–15 February2016 St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.^[1]
• 16–20 February2016 Russian Figure Skating Championships Final in Saransk, Mordovia.
• 25–29 FebruaryVorkuta mine disaster: Ignition of leaking methane gas caused a series of explosions that caused the deaths of 36 people, including 31 miners and five rescue workers, in a coal mine near the city of Vorkuta, Komi Republic, Russia.

March

• 14 MarchRussian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War: Putin announced that the mission which he set for the Russian military in Syria "has been accomplished" and he ordered the withdrawal of the "main part" of the Russian forces from Syria.
• 19 MarchFlydubai Flight 981 with Boeing 737-800 made two unsuccessful landing attempts at Rostov-on-Don Airport in inclement weather. It reached an altitude of 4,000 feet (1,200 m) (during its second go-around), but then suddenly went down and crashed into the ground at a high speed. All 62 people on board the aircraft were killed in the crash.

April

• 5 AprilInternal Troops became the newly formed National Guard of Russia. The Federal Migration Service and the Federal Drug Control Service of Russia were subordinated to MVD.
• 28 AprilVostochny Cosmodrome.^[2][3]

May

• 6–22 May2016 IIHF World Championship.

August

• 17 AugustFederal Security Service (FSB) officers kill at least four suspected North Caucasus Islamic militants during a counter-terrorism raid on an apartment building in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg.^[4]
• 27 AugustA fire at a warehouse in Moscow, Russia, kills at least 17 people, all migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan. The Investigative Committee of Russia, which reports directly to President Vladimir Putin, says a criminal inquiry has been launched.^[5]
• 25–28 August2016 Extreme Sailing Series in St. Petersburg.^[6][7]

October

• 3 OctoberPresident Putin suspends the 2000 nuclear pact with the United States on cleaning up weapons-grade plutonium.^[8]
• 5 OctoberVladimir Putin suspends the 2013 nuclear pact with the United States on uranium research.^[9]
• 8 OctoberRussia deploys the nuclear-capable Iskander mobile short-range ballistic missile system to the Kaliningrad Oblast.^[10]
• 9 OctoberEight militants, who planned attacks in Chechnya, were killed in a shootout with police. Four officers were injured as well.^[11][12]
• 23 OctoberA gas explosion in the Russian city of Ryazan kills at least 3 people and injures 13 others^[13]
• 24 October The Tolmachevy Sisters Concert in Minsk airs live on TV Channels Worldwide, including Freeform in the United States, Urging Viewers to vote for Donald Trump.

November

• 6 NovemberExplosion killed 6 people in Ivanovo, Russia.^[14]

December

• 19-20 December – a mass methanol poisoning in Irkutsk, Russia, killed over 70 people in the city; it was caused by an adulterated surrogate alcohol product containing methanol.^[15]

• 25 DecemberA Tupolev Tu-154 crashes near Sochi, Russia, killing all 92 people on board, including 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble.^[16]

Deaths

January

• 1 January – Fazu Aliyeva, 83, Russian Avar poet and journalist, heart failure.^[17]
• 3 January – Igor Sergun, 58, Russian military officer, Director of the GRU (since 2011).^[18]
• 5 January –
  • Lev Nikolayevich Korolyov, 89, Russian computer scientist.^[19]
  • Anatoly Roshchin, 83, Russian heavyweight wrestler, Olympic champion (1972).^[20]
• 23 January – Nikolay Abramov, 54, Russian writer and journalist.^[21]
• 27 January – Georgy Firtich, 77, Russian composer, jazz pianist, and professor Herzen University.^[22]

February

• 3 February – Valery Postnikov, 70, Russian ice hockey player and coach.^[23]
• 19 February – Tamerlan Aguzarov, 52, Russian politician, head of North Ossetia-Alania (2015–2016).^[24]
• 22 February – Lev Zbarsky, 84, Russian painter.^[25]

August

• 16 August – Ksenya Ponomaryova, 54, editor and media manager.^[26]

December

• Andrei Karlov, 62, Russian Ambassador to Turkey^[27]

References

1. ^ Tietennis. "WTA - St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy 2016 at Sibur Arena St. Petersburgo on February, 2016". www.tietennis.com. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
2. ^ Clark, Stephen. "Soyuz rocket fires into space with 11 satellites – Spaceflight Now". Retrieved 2019-02-13.
3. ^ "Russia inaugurates Vostochny Cosmodrome with semi-commercial Soyuz launch". SpaceNews.com. 2018-12-27. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
4. ^ "Russia St Petersburg: 'Militants' killed in counter-terrorism raid". BBC News. 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2026-05-13.
5. ^ Nechepurenko, Ivan (27 August 2016). "Moscow Warehouse Fire Kills at Least 17 Migrant Workers". The New York Times. – via NYTimes.com.
6. ^ "GC32s to replace Extreme 40s". www.extremesailingseries.com. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
7. ^ World, Yachting (2015-08-25). "Extreme Sailing Series move to super-light GC32 foiling catamarans for 2016 season". Yachting World. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
8. ^ "Putin suspends nuclear pact, raising stakes in row with Washington". Reuters. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
9. ^ "Russia suspends nuclear agreement, ends uranium research pact with United States". Reuters. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
10. ^ "Russia deploys nuclear-capable missiles in Kaliningrad". BBC News. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
11. ^ "Eight Killed In Chechnya Shoot-Out". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2016-10-10. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
12. ^ "Russian police shoot dead eight militants in Chechnya clashes: Reports". The Indian Express. 2016-10-09. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
13. ^ "3 dead in Russian apartment explosion". AP News. 2016-10-23. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
14. ^ "6 dead, 4 injured in Russian apartment explosion". AP News. 2016-11-06. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
15. ^ Jargin, Sergei (December 2016). "Questionable information on poisonings by alcohol surrogates". Interdisciplinary Toxicology. 9 (3-4): 83–84. doi:10.1515/intox-2016-0010. ISSN 1337-6853. PMC 5464682. PMID 28652850
16. ^ "Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia". CNN. 2016-12-27. Retrieved 2026-05-13.
17. ^ "Народная поэтесса Дагестана Фазу Алиева скончалась на 84 году жизни - ТАСС". TASS. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016.
18. ^ Путин соболезнует в связи со смертью начальника ГРУ Игоря Сергуна Archived 23 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
19. ^ "Королев Лев Николаевич | ВМК МГУ". cs.msu.ru. Archived from the original on 15 February 2016.
20. ^ "Ушел из жизни чемпион ОИ-1972 по греко-римской борьбе Анатолий Рощин". Archived from the original on 5 January 2016.
21. ^ "The evening in memory of Nikolai Abramov- Новости - The National Library of the Republic of Karelia". eng.library.karelia.ru. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
22. ^ "Умер известный композитор Георгий Фиртич" (in Russian). Национальная Служба Новостей - НСН. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
23. ^ "Тренер до последней секунды". sport-express.ru. 3 February 2016. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.
24. ^ "В Москве умер глава Северной Осетии Тамерлан Агузаров" (in Russian). BBC News Русская служба. 2016-02-19. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
25. ^ "Внуки Людмилы Максаковой похоронили родного деда в США" (in Russian). Поликсал.ру - Только эксклюзивные новости. Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
26. ^ "Умерла бывший главред «Коммерсанта» Ксения Пономарева" [Former Kommersant Editor-in-Chief Ksenia Ponomareva Dies] (in Russian). Izvestia. 16 August 2016. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
27. ^ "Turkey sentences 5 people to life over Russian envoy’s killing". Al Jazeera. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 2026-05-13.