2008 in Russia

Events from the year 2008 in the country of Russia.

Incumbents

 * President: Vladimir Putin (until 8 May), Dmitry Medvedev (from 8 May)
 * Prime Minister: Viktor Zubkov (until 8 May), Vladimir Putin (from 8 May)
 * Minister of Defence: Anatoliy Serdyukov

Events

 * March 2: 2008 Russian presidential election is occurred, Dmitry Medvedev won the election.
 * May 7: Dmitry Medvedev becomes President of Russia.
 * May 24: Dima Bilan wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia
 * August 7–16: Russia–Georgia war
 * August 8–11: Battle of Tskhinvali
 * August 9–12: Battle of the Kodori Valley
 * August 9/10: Battle off the coast of Abkhazia
 * August 9–19: Occupation of Poti
 * August 13–22: Occupation of Gori
 * February – The Russian group Voina staged the Fuck for the heir Puppy Bear! performance at the Timiryazev State Biological Museum in Moscow to protest at the election of Dmitry Medvedev in the 2008 Russian presidential election.

Deaths

 * January 3
 * Aleksandr Abdulov, actor (b. 1953)
 * Nikolay Puzanov, Russian Soviet biathlete and 1968 Olympic Gold medalist (b. 1938)
 * January 12 - Gennady Bachinsky, radio talk show host and producer (b. 1971)
 * January 15 - Artyom Sergeyev, Soviet Major general and adopted son of Joseph Stalin (b. 1921)
 * February 15 - Mikhail Solomentsev, Soviet statesman (b. 1913)
 * February 19 - Yegor Letov, poet (b. 1964)
 * February 29 - Vitaly Fedorchuk, Minister of Interior Affairs of the Soviet Union (1982-1986) (b. 1918)
 * May 20 - Viktor Bortsov, theatrical and cinema actor (b. 1934)
 * June 3 - Grigory Romanov, First Secretary of the Leningrad Regional Party Committee (1970-1983) (b. 1923)
 * July 6 - Nonna Mordyukova, actress (b. 1925)
 * July 11 - Anatoly Pristavkin, writer and public figure (b. 1931)
 * July 25 - Mikhail Pugovkin, comic actor (b. 1923)
 * August 3 - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, writer (b. 1918)
 * August 9 - Denis Vetchinov, Russian Ground Forces major (b. 1976)
 * September 14 - Gennady Troshev, colonel general (b. 1947)
 * September 24 - Ruslan Yamadayev, Chechen warlord and member of Russian State Duma (b. 1961)
 * October 1 - Boris Yefimov, political cartoonist (b. 1900)
 * October 25 - Muslim Magomayev, opera and pop singer (b. 1942)
 * November 20 - Boris Fyodorov, politician and economist (b. 1958)
 * December 2 - Pyotr Latyshev, 1st Russian Presidential Envoy to the Urals Federal District (b. 1948)
 * December 5 - Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow, 15th Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' (b. 1929)