Events in the year 2024 in Russia.
Incumbents President – Vladimir Putin Prime Minister – Mikhail Mishustin
Governors
Ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022–present) Timeline of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (1 December 2023 – present)
Events January 2 January - A Russian Air Force aircraft accidentally releases its explosive ordnance on the village of Petropavlovka, Voronezh Oblast, injuring four people and damaging six buildings. 3 January – Ukraine and Russia complete their first prisoner exchange in nearly five months, releasing over 200 people on each side, facilitated by mediation from the United Arab Emirates. 4 January – President Putin issues a decree granting Russian citizenship to foreigners who fight for Russia in the Russo-Ukrainian war and their families. 8 January – A pileup in snowy conditions involving 50 vehicles on the Moscow–Saint Petersburg motorway near Novgorod kills four people and injures six others. 9 January – Russia places exiled tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on a wanted list over comments he made regarding the Russo-Ukrainian war. 17 January – 2024 Bashkortostan protests: Thousands of people protest the trial of Bashkir activist Fail Alsynov in Baymak, Bashkortostan. Clashes with police are reported. 21 January – A terminal of Russian gas producer Novatek catches fire in Ust-Luga, in the Gulf of Finland, due to a suspected Ukrainian drone attack. 24 January – Korochansky Il-76 crash: A Russian Ilyushin IL-76 military transport plane which the Russian defence ministry claimed was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, six crew members and three guards, crashes in Korochansky District in Belgorod Oblast, near the Ukrainian border, killing everyone on board. 25 January – Assassination of Vladlen Tatarsky: A court in Saint Petersburg sentences Darya Trepova to 27 years in prison for the assassination of Vladlen Tatarsky. 31 January – Russia and Ukraine conduct a prisoner exchange on their border with 195 soldiers being returned to Russia, and 207 military personnel and civilians being returned to Ukraine, respectively. The deal is facilitated by the United Arab Emirates.
February
2 February – A Lukoil oil refinery in Volgograd is attacked by Ukrainian long-range drones, causing a large fire and disrupting operations. Governor of Volgograd Oblast Andrey Bocharov says the attack was repelled by air defences. 8 February – The Vladimir Putin Interview: a television interview hosted by the American journalist and political commentator Tucker Carlson with President Putin. It is the first interview with Putin to be granted to a Western journalist since the start of Russo-Ukrainian war in February 2022. 16 February – Alexei Navalny, prominent opposition leader and a vocal critic of President Putin, dies while serving a 19-year sentence in prison. 20 February – The Federal Security Service arrests Ksenia Karelina, a dual Russian-American citizen, on suspicion of treason. 29 February to 7 March – The World Festival of Youth is held at Sirius, Krasnodar Krai.
March 1 March – The funeral of Alexei Navalny is held in Moscow. 3 March – Six alleged members of the Islamic State are killed in a shootout with police in Karabulak, Republic of Ingushetia. 6 March – Russian journalist Roman Ivanov was sentenced to 7 years in prison for spreading “fake news” about the Russian army. 12 March - 7 April: The Freedom of Russia Legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Sibir Battalion launch a cross-border incursion from Ukraine and claim to have seized control over the settlements of Tyotkino, Kursk Oblast, and Lozovaya Rudka, Belgorod Oblast. The Russian government claims to have repelled the attacks. An IL-76 military transport aircraft crashes during takeoff in Ivanovo Oblast, killing all 15 people on board. 14 March – A Royal Air Force plane carrying UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps and several journalists has its GPS signals jammed while flying near Kaliningrad Oblast. Mobile phone signals were also jammed during the flight. The Russian military is suspected of being behind the jamming. 15 to 17 March – 2024 Russian presidential election: Incumbent President Vladimir Putin wins a fifth term in office. 19 March: A gold mine collapse in Zeysky District, Amur Oblast leaves 13 miners dead. Former deputy education minister Marina Rakova is sentenced to five years' imprisonment for fraud involving the misappropriation of 50 million rubles ($540,000) of Education Ministry funds. Her co-accused, Rector of the Moscow School for the Social and Economic Sciences Sergey Zuev, is given a four-year suspended sentence for the same case. A Russian fishing trawler is reportedly struck by a missile during Baltic Fleet training exercises off the coast of Kaliningrad Oblast, killing three and injuring four others. Russian authorities blame the incident on a fire and claim that only one person was killed. 21 March – The Supreme Court of Tatarstan sentences Radik Tagirov, who is identified as the Volga Maniac serial killer, to life in prison for the murders of 31 elderly women in the republic between 2011 and 2012. 22 March – The Russian government, through Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, states in a press conference that the invasion of Ukraine is now a "war" and no longer a "special military operation," the official term used for the war by the Russian government. In another press conference later that day, Peskov clarifies that although the invasion is a war de facto, the Russian government does not yet plan to change its de jure status as a "special military operation". Crocus City Hall attack: At least 151 people are killed and 609 are injured in a shooting and arson attack claimed by the Islamic State in the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast. 24 March – A Russian cruise missile violates NATO airspace over Poland, prompting the activation of aircraft from the Polish Air Force. Crocus City Hall attack: Four Tajik men are charged with terrorism. They are brought to Basmanny District court in Moscow, where they are ordered to be held in pre-trial detention until at least 22 May. 28 March – A Sukhoi Su-35 crashes into the sea off Sevastopol. The pilot is reported to have safely ejected. 29 March – Russia vetoes the continuation of the monitoring of UN sanctions on the North Korean nuclear weapons program. 31 March – President Putin signs a decree for a larger than normal spring conscription campaign, calling up 150,000 citizens for military service.
April 1 April – A train collides with a bus at a level-crossing in Yaroslavl Oblast, killing eight people. 4 April – The governor of Murmansk Oblast, Andrey Chibis, is severely wounded after being stabbed while meeting with constituents in Apatity. The assailant is reported to be a disgruntled 42-year old local railway worker. 5 April – Orsk Dam collapse: A dam failure in Orsk, Orenburg Oblast caused by melting snow results in a flood that inundates 10,000 homes and displaces 10,000 people. Over the succeeding days, floods also caused by the spring thaw occur in Tyumen, Tomsk and Kurgan Oblasts. 8 April – One person is killed and five others are injured after a bridge collapses into a railway in Vyazma, Smolensk Oblast. 9 April – Four people are sentenced to varying prison terms including life imprisonment for the ritual killings of three people in the Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast and Moscow Oblast in 2016. 11 April – Two suspected militants are killed in a counterterrorism operation outside Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria. Russia warns its citizens against travelling to the Middle East amid tensions between Iran and Israel. 17 April – Russia begins the withdrawal of its peacekeepers from Nagorno-Karabakh. 19 April – A Russian Air Force Tu-22M3 is shot down in Russian airspace over Stavropol Krai after launching missiles at targets in Ukraine. 22 April: Two police officers are killed and a third is injured following a gun attack in Karachaevsk, Karachay-Cherkessia. Three people are killed in a fire at a machine-building plant in Voronezh. 23 April – Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov is arrested on suspicion of bribery. 24 April – Russia vetoes a UN Security Council resolution reaffirming a ban on an arms race in outer space under the provisions of the Outer Space Treaty. 27 April – Authorities arrest a fifth suspect for the Crocus City Hall attack in March, a Tajik man accused of providing the attackers with financing and communication. 28 April – Two police officers are killed and four more injured during a mass shooting at a checkpoint in Karachay-Cherkessia. The five attackers, who are suspected of involvement in the 22 April attack, are also killed in the ensuing shootout.
May
6 May – A state of emergency is declared in Irkutsk Oblast due to wildfires. 7 May – Russia declares U.S. nonprofit organization Freedom House an "undesirable organization", effectively outlawing the group, after accusing it of "discrediting the Russian Army" and advocating sanctions against Russia. 9 May – A drone strike is reported in Bashkortostan for the first time since the start of the war against Ukraine. Vladimir Putin begins his fifth term as President of Russia. 10 May: 2024 Kharkiv offensive: Russia launches an offensive in Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast, pushing Ukrainian forces back one kilometer from the international border. A bus plunges into the Moyka river in Saint Petersburg, killing seven passengers. 12 May: Thirteen people are killed in a suspected Ukrainian missile strike on an apartment in Belgorod. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu is appointed secretary of the Security Council of Russia and replaced by Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov. 14 May – Former head of personnel of the Ministry of Defence Yuri Kuznetsov is arrested for bribery of over ₽1 million. His charges carry up to 15 years of jail time. Russia puts the nuclear capable submarine-launched Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile into service. 16 May – President Vladimir Putin meets with General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping in Beijing as part of his two-day visit to China. 17 May – A 76-mm artillery shell dating from the Great Patriotic War that was being stored inside a basement of the Budyonny Military Academy of the Signal Corps in Saint Petersburg explodes during cleaning works, injuring seven soldiers. 20 May – Valery Fadeyev Chairman of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights calls for a Niqab ban in Russia. A court in Novosibirsk sentences a 24-year-old man to 25 years in prison for allegedly plotting an arson attack on a military recruitment office with alleged directions from Ukraine. 21 May – A state of emergency is declared in the Sakha Republic due to flooding. A court in Saint Petersburg sentences Anatoly Maslov, a 77-year-old hypersonic missiles expert, to 14 years in prison for state treason. 22 May – The United Nations Security Council votes against a resolution introduced by Russia and China banning member states from placing weapons in outer space. A Soyuz-2 rocket carrying the Kosmos 2576 satellite is launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Arkhangelsk Oblast. The Russian Ministry of Defence proposes to unilaterally adjust Russia's maritime border in the Baltic Sea. However, following comments made by Baltic members of NATO, including Finland and Lithuania, the ministry retracts the proposal. 23 May: Deputy Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant-General Vadim Shamarin is arrested on bribery charges. Eight people are killed in a fire at a hostel in Istra, Moscow Oblast. Russia returns six children displaced by the war back to Ukraine, in a deal brokered by Qatar. 24 May: The European Union allows Ukraine to use interest funds from frozen Russian bank accounts, totaling €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) per year.