The 2025 Orenburg Oblast gubernatorial election took place on 12–14 September 2025, on common election day. Acting Governor of Orenburg Oblast Yevgeny Solntsev was elected for a full term in office.

Background Energy executive Denis Pasler, former Chairman of the Government of Sverdlovsk Oblast (2012–2016), was appointed acting Governor of Orenburg Oblast in March 2019, replacing two-term Governor Yury Berg. Pasler ran for a full term in 2019 and won the election with 65.94% of the vote. Throughout 2021-2024 numerous sources reported that Pasler was considering resigning early from the gubernatorial office and would return to the private sector, however, those exploits never came to life. Governor Pasler overwhelmingly won re-election in 2024 with 78.14%, while his main challenger, Communist businessman Vladimir Gudomarov, failed to qualify. Pasler was able to easily secure a second term despite deadly April 2024 Orsk Dam collapse, which left Orsk, the second largest city in Orenburg Oblast, flooded for months.

In March 2025 Denis Pasler was named the top contender to replace Yevgeny Kuyvashev as Governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast. On March 26, 2025, Kuyvashev tendered his resignation, later that day President of Russia Vladimir Putin met with Denis Pasler and asked him to become acting Governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast, which Pasler accepted; simultaneously President Putin met with Prime Minister of Donetsk People's Republic Yevgeny Solntsev and asked him to replace Pasler in Orenburg Oblast, which Solntsev also accepted.

Candidates In Orenburg Oblast candidates for Governor of Orenburg Oblast can be nominated only by registered political parties. Candidate for Governor of Orenburg Oblast should be a Russian citizen and at least 30 years old. Candidates for Governor of Orenburg Oblast should not have a foreign citizenship or residence permit. Each candidate in order to be registered is required to collect at least 5% of signatures of members and heads of municipalities. Also gubernatorial candidates present 3 candidacies to the Federation Council and election winner later appoints one of the presented candidates.

Declared Candidate name,political partyOccupationStatusRef.Denis BaturinCommunist Party Member of Orenburg City Council (2015–present)Security systems engineerRegisteredRamil GafarovCommunists of Russia Pensioner2024 gubernatorial candidateRegisteredOksana NabatchikovaSR–ZP Former Member of Legislative Assembly of Orenburg Oblast (2016–2021, 2021–2023)2024 gubernatorial candidateRegisteredKarina SalikhovaNew People Nonprofit directorRegisteredYevgeny SolntsevUnited Russia Acting Governor of Orenburg Oblast (2025–present)Former Prime Minister of Donetsk People's Republic (2023–2025)Registered

Eliminated at the convention Olga Saldayeva (United Russia), Member of Civic Chamber of Russia (2020–present), pedagogical college director Aleksandr Trubnikov (United Russia), Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of Orenburg Oblast (2016–present), Member of the Legislative Assembly (2002–present)

Declined Yelena Afanasyeva (LDPR), Senator from Orenburg Oblast (2014–present) Maksim Amelin (CPRF), Member of Legislative Assembly of Orenburg Oblast (2013–present), 2019 gubernatorial candidate Vladimir Gudomarov (CPRF), Member of Legislative Assembly of Orenburg Oblast (2021–present), energy executive, 2024 gubernatorial candidate Yekaterina Kalegina (New People), Member of Legislative Assembly of Orenburg Oblast (2021–present), 2024 gubernatorial candidate Nina Ostanina (CPRF), Member of State Duma (1995–2011, 2021–present), 1997 Kemerovo Oblast gubernatorial candidate

Candidates for Federation Council Head candidate,political partyCandidates for Federation CouncilStatusDenis BaturinCommunist Party * Maksim Amelin, Member of Legislative Assembly of Orenburg Oblast (2013–present), 2019 gubernatorial candidate* Lyaysan Kotkova, Member of Legislative Assembly of Orenburg Oblast (2021–present), nurse * Nurlan Munzhasarov, Member of Legislative Assembly of Orenburg Oblast (2021–present)RegisteredRamil GafarovCommunists of Russia * Irina Geraskina, businesswoman* Igor Petrov, businessman * Sergey Ryabov, pensionerRegisteredOksana NabatchikovaSR–ZP * Andrey Gubiy, former Member of Orenburg City Council (2020–2024)* Aleksandr Kolybelnikov, Member of Legislative Assembly of Orenburg Oblast (2023–present), businessman * Vyacheslav Rashchupkin, Member of Legislative Assembly of Orenburg Oblast (2021–present)RegisteredKarina SalikhovaNew People * Aleksandr Kozhevnikov, businessman* Yelena Mishustina, middle school deputy principal * Eleonora Sborets, tax expertRegisteredYevgeny SolntsevUnited Russia * Yelena Afanasyeva (LDPR), incumbent Senator (2014–present)* Olga Saldayeva, Member of Civic Chamber of Russia (2020–present), pedagogical college director * Yury Shevyakov, Presidential Administration of Russia officialRegistered

Finances All sums are in rubles. Financial Report Source Baturin Gafarov Nabatchikova Salikhova Solntsev First 129,000 4,740,689 1,905,600 5,090,000 25,000,000 Final 2,541,500 8,610,689 5,851,792 14,800,500 57,000,000

Polls Fieldwork datePolling firm Solntsev Baturin Gafarov Nabatchikova SalikhovaNoneLead14 September 20252025 election83.95.93.33.02.41.578.05–19 August 2025WCIOM75.910.73.55.03.11.865.2

Results

|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ! style="text-align:left;" colspan=2| Candidate ! style="text-align:left;"| Party ! width="75"|Votes ! width="30"|% |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Yevgeny Solntsev (incumbent) | style="text-align:left;"| United Russia | | 83.85 |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Denis Baturin | style="text-align:left;"| Communist Party | | 5.93 |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Ramil Gafarov | style="text-align:left;"| Communists of Russia | | 3.29 |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Oksana Nabatchikova | style="text-align:left;"| A Just Russia – For Truth | | 2.99 |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Karina Salikhova | style="text-align:left;"| New People | | 2.41 |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Valid votes | | 98.46 |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Blank ballots | | 1.53 |- style="font-weight:bold" | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Total | | 100.00 |- | style="background-color:#E9E9E9;" colspan="6"| |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Turnout | | 49.23 |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Registered voters | | 100.00 |- | colspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9;"| |- style="font-weight:bold" | colspan="4" |Source:

Governor Solntsev re-appointed incumbent Senator Yelena Afanasyeva (LDPR) to the Federation Council.

See also 2025 Russian regional elections

References