1996 Russian Indoor Athletics Championships

The 1996 Russian Indoor Athletics Championships (Чемпионат России по лёгкой атлетике в помещении 1996) was the 5th edition of the national championship in indoor track and field for Russia. It was held on 23–25 February at the Alexander Gomelsky Universal Sports Hall CSKA in Moscow. A total of 26 events (13 for men and 13 for women) were contested over the two-day competition. It was used for selection of the Russian team for the 1996 European Athletics Indoor Championships.

Championships
In the winter of 1996, Russian championships were also held in the following disciplines:


 * 9–11 February — Russian Combined Events Indoor Championships (Lipetsk)
 * 10–11 February – Russian 24-Hour Run Indoor Championships (Podolsk)

Russian Combined Events Indoor Championships
The Russian Combined Events Indoor Championships was held on 9–11 February 1996 in Lipetsk in the Yubileiny Sports Palace. Yelena Lebedenko set a personal record and for the first time in her career became national champion. Her score of 4735 points was the best in the world that year for women's indoor pentathlon.

Russian 24-Hour Run Indoor Championships
The Russian 24-Hour Run Indoor Championships was held on 10–11 February in Podolsk on the 133-meter circle of the arena of the local youth sports school. Competitions were held as part of the Podolsk Day super marathon and were held in memory of Nikolay Safin, who had established here the highest world achievement three years earlier (275,576 m). Elena Sidorenkova set a world record distance of 248,901 m in the women's race. However, this result (like Safin's record) was not ratified by the international association due to the uncertified track length and the lack of strict documentation of the circles passed by the participants.

International team selection
Following the results of the championships, taking into account the qualifying standards, the Russian team for the 1996 European Athletics Indoor Championships included:

Men

 * 60 m: Andrey Fedoriv, Pavel Galkin
 * 200 m: Andrey Fedoriv
 * 400 m: Aleksandr Dobryanskiy
 * 1500 m: Andrey Zadorozhnyy
 * 60 m hurdles: Andrey Kislykh
 * High jump: Leonid Pumalainen
 * Pole vault: Viktor Chistiakov†, Pyotr Bochkaryov
 * Long jump: Kirill Sosunov†, Yuriy Naumkin†
 * Triple jump: Viktor Sotnikov, Igor Gavrilenko, Aleksandr Aseledchenko
 * Shot put: Vyacheslav Lykho

Women

 * 60 m: Nadezhda Roshchupkina, Natalya Merzlyakova
 * 200 m: Marina Zhirova
 * 400 m: Tatyana Chebykina†, Olga Kotlyarova
 * 800 m: Svetlana Masterkova
 * 1500 m: Yekaterina Podkopayeva
 * 3000 m: Lyudmila Petrova, Mariya Pantyukhova
 * High jump: Natalya Golodnova, Victoria Seregina
 * Pole vault: Galina Envarenko, Natalya Mekhanoshina
 * Long jump: Yelena Sinchukova, Nina Perevedentseva
 * Triple jump: Natalya Kayukova
 * Shot put: Irina Khudoroshkina
 * Pentathlon: Yelena Lebedenko, Irina Vostrikova

† Had exemption for selection and allowed not to compete at the national championships