List of massacres in Russia


The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in Russia. For massacres that occurred in the Soviet Union, see List of massacres in the Soviet Union:

Pre-Soviet and Soviet Russia

NameDateLocationDeathsDescription
Siege of RyazanDecember 1237Ryazan, RussiaNearly the entire population of Ryazan murderedMongols massacred almost the whole population of Ryazan.-
Siege of KazanSeptember–October 1552Kazan, Khanate of KazanUpwards of 50,000Last battle of the Russo-Kazan Wars where the forces of Tsar Ivan IV besieged the city of Kazan and killed the cities population once taken.-
Massacre of Novgorod1570Novgorod, Russia2,500–60,000Attack launched by Tsar Ivan IV 's oprichniki on the city of Novgorod, Russia.-
Fire of Moscow May 1571Moscow, Russia60,000–200,000+Massacre conducted by Crimean and Turkish forces.-
Copper RiotAugust 4, 1662Moscow, RussiaAround 1000Muscovites riot and demand that Tsar Aleksey Mikhailovich hand over a group of "traitors" thought responsible for economic hardship in the city. Troops under the command of the Tsar put down the riot.-
Bezdna unrestApril 1861Biznä, Kazan Governorate50+Russian troops under the orders of Tsar Alexander II put down a peasant rebellion led by Anton Petrov. The rebels were protesting the details of the Emancipation reform of 1861.-
Circassian genocideMarch 6, 1864–May 21, 1864Circassia400,000–1,500,000+The Russian Empire ethnically cleansed the Circassian people. The survivors fled to the Ottoman Empire. The Circassian genocide is denied by the Russian government.-
Uprising of Polish political exiles in SiberiaJune 24–28, 1866On the Circumbaikal Highway, south of Lake Baikal300Uprising by Polish Sybiracy in Siberia put down by Russian troops. Leaders of the uprising are all killed.-
Bloody SundayJanuary 22, 1905Saint Petersburg143–234Protesters led by Russian Orthodox priest George Gapon were fired upon by the Leib Guard as they marched on the Winter Palace to petition Tsar Nicholas II.-
Lena massacreApril 17, 1912northeast of Bodaybo150–270Shooting of goldfield workers on strike in Siberia.-
White Terror1917–1923Nationwide
20,000 to 300,000		-
Red Terror1918–19Nationwide100,000 – 1,300,000In Crimea alone, 50,000 White PoWs and civilians were executed with Lenin's approval in 1920. 800,000 Red Army desertees were arrested and many were killed with their families.-
Tambov Rebellion19 August 1920 – June 1921Tambov Governorate15,000+ Total of 240,000 rebels and civilians killed by communist forces.-

Post-Soviet Russia

NameDateLocationDeathsDescription
Shali cluster bomb attackJanuary 3, 1995Shali, Chechnya55–100Russian fighter jets dropped cluster munitions on the town of Shali. Targets included a school; cemetery, hospital, fuel station and a collective farm.-
Samashki massacreApril 7–8, 1995Samashki, Chechnya250+The massacre of 100–300 civilians in the village of Samashki by Russian paramilitary troops.-
Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis14–19 June 1995Budyonnovsk, Stavropol Krai166Some 200 armed men under the command of Chechen warlords Shamil Basayev, Aslambek Abdulkhadzhiev and Aslambek Ismailov occupied key areas of the city of Budyonnovsk. They took hostages and demanded the end of the First Chechen War.-
Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisisJanuary 9–18, 1996Kizlyar and Pervomayskoye-Sovetskoye, DagestanAt least 26Forces led by warlord Salman Raduyev crossed over from Chechnya and took thousands of hostages in Kizlyar. Most were released but at least 26 were killed and some 200 fighters on both sides died during the battle that followed.-
Killing of Red Cross workers at Novye AtagiDecember 17, 1996Novye Atagi, Chechnya6Unidentified men stormed a Red Cross facility in the Selo of Novye Atagi. All 6 killed came from outside Russia and Chechnya.-
Russian apartment bombingsSeptember 4–16, 1999Buynaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk293A number of bombs go off in high rise apartment buildings in three Russian cities. Another bomb was defused in Ryazan. The Russian government blamed the breakaway Republic of Chechnya but a number of conspiracies abound.-
Elistanzhi cluster bomb attackOctober 7, 1999Elistanzhi, Chechnya34Two Russian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 use cluster munitions on the remote mountain village of Elistanzhi. The local school is destroyed with 9 children inside.-
Grozny ballistic missile attackOctober 21, 1999Grozny, Chechnya118100 plus people die in indiscriminate bombing on the Chechen capital of Grozny by the Strategic Missile Troops.-
Baku–Rostov highway bombingOctober 29, 1999Shami-Yurt, Chechnya25Low flying Russian Air Force helicopters perform repeated attack runs on a large numbers refugees trying to enter Ingushetia.-
1999 Grozny refugee convoy shootingDecember 3, 1999Goity, ChechnyaAround 40OMON officers use automatic rifles on a convoy of refugees at a federal roadblock on the road to Ingushetia.-
Alkhan-Yurt massacreDecember, 1999Alkhan-Yurt, Chechnya17–41Over two weeks drunken Russian troops under the command of General Vladimir Shamanov went on the rampage after taking the town from the forces of Akhmed Zakayev.-
Staropromyslovski massacreDecember 1999–January 2000Grozny, Chechnya38–56Summary executions of at least 38 confirmed civilians by Russian federal soldiers in Grozny, Chechnya.-
Bombing of Katyr-YurtFebruary 4, 2000Katyr-Yurt, Chechnya170–363Indiscriminate bombing by the Russian Air Force of the village of Katyr-Yurt and a refugee convoy under white flags.-
Novye Aldi massacreFebruary 5, 2000Groznensky District, Chechnya60–82The killings, including executions, of 60 to 82 local civilians by special police unit, OMON, and rapes of at least six women along with arson and robbery in Grozny, Chechnya.-
Komsomolskoye massacreMarch 20, 2000Komsomolskoye, Chechnya72Chechen combantants who surrendered after the Battle of Komsomolskoye on the public promise of amnesty are killed and "disappeared" shortly after.-
Kaspiysk bombingMay 9, 2002Kaspiysk, Dagestan44A bomb planted at a military parade to celebrate Victory Day goes off. The Russian state blamed Rappani Khalilov.-
Moscow theater hostage crisisOctober 23–26, 2002Moscow204Chechen terrorists under the command of Movsar Barayev storm a theatre in Moscow and took hostages. They demanded an end to the Second Chechen War. They killed some of the hostages and then Russian special forces stormed the building.-
2003 Stavropol train bombingDecember 5, 2003Yessentuki, Stavropol Krai46A suicide bomber detonates a bomb on a commuter train.-
2003 Red Square bombingDecember 9, 2003Moscow6A female suicide bomber detonates a bomb on a busy street near the Kremlin. The government blames Riyad-us Saliheen.-
Moscow Metro bombingFebruary 6, 2004Moscow41Anzor Izhayev blows himself up on the Russian Metro.-
Beslan school hostage crisisSeptember 1, 2004Beslan, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania334Hostage taking of over 1,100 people ending with 385 people killed in School Number One in Beslan, North Ossetia, Russia.-
Kushchyovskaya massacreNovember 2010Kushchyovsky District12The stabbing of 12 people in the village of Kushchyovskaya, Krasnodar Krai, Russia.-