Is prostitution legal in Russia?
Illegal
Selling sex is an administrative offense punishable by fines, while organizing it is a criminal offense.
Russia is one of 101 countries classified “Illegal” for sex work — 46% of the 219 with data. (Also searched as prostitution.)
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Prostitution in Europe
- Last checked
- 17 September 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- Mongolia
- Illegal Prostitution is a criminal offense, though it is widespread in some areas.
- Kazakhstan
- Legal & regulated Selling sex is legal, but facilitating acts like operating brothels are illegal.
- Finland
- Decriminalized / unregulated Selling sex is legal, but organized prostitution and buying sex linked to trafficking are illegal.
- Norway
- Buying illegal (Nordic model) Buying sex is criminalized while selling sex is not, fitting the Nordic model definition.
- Kyrgyzstan
- Legal & regulated Prostitution is legal, but operating brothels, pimping, and recruiting persons into prostitution are illegal.
- Estonia
- Decriminalized / unregulated Selling and buying sex are not crimes, but prostitution is not considered a profession.
Other laws in Russia
- Same-Sex Marriage
- Not recognized
- Same-Sex Activity
- Illegal
- Age of Consent
- 16–17
- Pornography
- Illegal
- Divorce
- Legal
- Same-Sex Adoption
- Not permitted
- Incest Laws
- Legal between adults
- Marriage Age
- 18+
A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.