Polygamy in Russia

Polygamous marriages are not recognized in the Russian Federation. The Family Code of Russia states that a marriage can only be contracted between a man and a woman, neither of whom is married to someone else. Furthermore, Russia does not recognize polygamous marriages that had been contracted in other countries. Under Russian law, de facto polygamy or multiple cohabitation in and of itself is not a crime.

Due to the imbalance between urban educated women and men in predominantly Mongol-inhabited regions of Russia, men sometimes may have multiple women as wives, one report claims. This sometimes results in households that are openly de facto polygamous.