Russia’s demographic crisis and the depopulation of its regions continue to accelerate. In less than eight months of 2026 alone, 165 depopulated settlements have officially been abolished across 26 Russian regions.
The Novgorod region, where various estimates put the number of villages removed from the map at between 21 and 35, and the Kostroma region, with between 21 and 23 settlements abolished, have recorded the highest rates of village depopulation and legal dissolution.
Abandoned settlements have also disappeared from maps in the Ryazan, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo regions, as well as Perm Krai, Karelia and Tatarstan.
Discrepancies between statistics reported by local media and independent researchers are attributed to bureaucratic delays: regional legislation abolishing settlements is adopted relatively quickly, while changes are entered into nationwide registers only later. Nevertheless, the overall trend remains unchanged — Russia’s rural and remote areas are rapidly losing population and becoming increasingly deserted.
According to demographers, the number of children born in Russia is expected to decline in 2026 for the 11th consecutive year.
