Surge in Life Sentences: Russian Courts Set Historic Record in 2025

Between January and November 2025, Russian judges imposed life sentences on 100 individuals, marking the highest annual count in at least the last 20 years, according to a report by the state-run TASS news agency, referencing data from the Supreme Court of Russia.

This figure, tallied over an incomplete year, is nearly double the total for the entirety of 2022 and represents a historic peak in judicial records for the past two decades.

In comparison, official statistics show that 84 life sentences were handed down in both 2005 and 2012.

The trend of life sentences has been on the rise in recent years, with courts delivering 66 such sentences in 2020, 47 in 2021, 58 in 2022, 78 in 2023, and 79 in 2024.

Overall, the courts have issued 1,416 life sentences from 2005 to 2025.

The Supreme Court did not disclose the specific legal grounds for the life sentences imposed in 2025.

However, since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there has been an increase in the use of life imprisonment, with courts applying newly broadened provisions of the Criminal Code, including charges such as treason, organizing acts of sabotage or terrorism, and participation in terrorist activities.

Currently, life imprisonment stands as Russia’s most severe punishment apart from the death penalty, which has been under a moratorium since 1997.