Who runs local government in Russia?

Russia is a federation of regions (federal subjects), each with a governor and legislature, and below them municipalities. Since the 2020 constitutional amendments, local self-government is part of a 'unified system of public power' with the state. A new federal law of 20 March 2025 (No. 33-FZ) makes the target model a single tier of large municipalities (city okrugs and municipal okrugs); the older two-tier system of districts and settlements continues until regional laws replace it. In most big cities, including most regional capitals, mayors are no longer directly elected; a 2016 HSE study already described Petrozavodsk as one of few regional capitals that still had popular mayoral elections.

Russian Federation · Federal republic (presidential) · Eastern Europe

The levels of government below the nation

Level	How it is chosen	What it does
Federal subjects – regions, republics, krais, federal cities (89 claimed by Russia, including Crimea and four regions of Ukraine whose annexation the UN General Assembly does not recognise)	Governor (head) directly elected in most regions; regional legislature directly elected	Regional laws, budgets, health, education, regional police co-ordination. Governors can now discipline and remove local administration heads in some cases.
City okrugs and municipal okrugs (single-tier units)	Representative council directly elected; head chosen by one of four methods the region selects: direct election, by the council from its members, by the council from candidates put forward by the governor, or by the council from a competition commission shortlist	Local services: housing, local roads, landscaping, waste, local planning; many also run delegated state tasks.
Municipal districts and urban/rural settlements (old two-tier model, being phased out region by region)	Councils elected; heads chosen as above	Shared local tasks; regional laws are merging them into okrugs.
Intra-city units of Moscow, St Petersburg and Sevastopol	Elected councils	Minor local functions in the federal cities.

Three questions about local power in Russia

Are local leaders elected?

Municipal councils are elected. Heads of municipalities may be elected directly, but in most large cities they are chosen by councils, often from candidates filtered by a competition commission or proposed by the governor. Village starosty are appointed by the council on residents' nomination. Most governors are directly elected.

Which laws set up local government?

The Constitution (Articles 130–133, amended 2020) and Federal Law No. 33-FZ of 20 March 2025 (in force from June 2025, replacing Law 131-FZ of 2003). Indigenous obshchiny and TOS are formal. Religious influence is informal.

Who are local leaders accountable to?

Councils and voters can remove heads in some cases, but the 2025 law also lets the regional governor warn, reprimand and remove a head of local administration who fails in delegated state tasks; heads can appeal to court. Prosecutors also supervise local bodies.

Traditional and customary authority

Federal law recognises communities (obshchiny) of indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, which can manage traditional land use. Religious bodies such as the Russian Orthodox Church and regional Muslim spiritual boards are influential, especially in some republics, but have no formal local government role.

Community and neighbourhood power

The 2025 law keeps 'territorial public self-government' (TOS): residents of a building, street or village can register a body to run local projects, often with small grants. In villages inside an okrug, the council can appoint a village starosta (elder) nominated by a residents' meeting; the starosta is a voluntary go-between, not an official. Residents' meetings, public hearings and 'initiative projects' co-funded by residents are also in the law.

Points to know

Regions must bring their laws into line with the 2025 law by 1 January 2027, and some powers in the new law start only on 1 January 2028.
The 2025 law lists only three types of municipality – city okrug, municipal okrug and intra-city unit of a federal city – so settlements survive only under transitional rules.
Moscow and St Petersburg are federal subjects whose heads are elected like governors; their districts have small elected councils.
The village starosta post is not a municipal or state office and is unpaid in principle.

Local terms

Municipal okrug: Single-tier rural or mixed municipality created under the new model.
TOS (territorial public self-government): Registered residents' body for a street, block or village.
Starosta: Village elder appointed by the council on residents' nomination; a voluntary go-between.
Competition commission: Panel, partly appointed by the governor, that shortlists candidates for head of a municipality.

Sources

Constitution of the Russian Federation (as amended 2020), President of Russia (kremlin.ru), checked 14 October 2026
The rise and fall of local self-government: the case of Petrozavodsk (Working Paper WP BRP 37/PS/2016), M. Turchenko, National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE), checked 14 October 2026
Federal Law of 20 March 2025 No. 33-FZ 'On the general principles of organisation of local self-government in the unified system of public power' (current edition), President of Russia (kremlin.ru), checked 14 October 2026