Editing List of Russian people (section)

== Statesmen ==

===Monarchs===
{{Main|Russian rulers}}
[[File:Ivan III of Russia 3.jpg|90px|thumb|[[Ivan the Great]]]]
*[[Rurik]], ruler of [[Novgorod]], progenitor of the [[Rurikid Dynasty]], traditionally the first ruler of Russia[[File:1000 Vladimir 2.jpg|90px|thumb|[[Vladimir the Great]]]]
*[[Oleg the Seer|Oleg]] "the Seer", conqueror of [[Kiev]] and founder of [[Kievan Rus']], famous for his wars with the [[Byzantium]]
*[[Igor of Kiev|Igor]] "the Old", first historically well-attested [[Rurikid]] ruler
*[[St. Olga|Olga]], first female ruler of Rus' ([[regent]]), the first [[Christians|Christian]] among Russian rulers
*[[Vladimir of Kiev|Vladimir I]] "the Great", turned saint from pagan and enacted the [[Christianization of Kievan Rus']]
*[[Yaroslav of Kiev|Yaroslav I]] "the Wise", reigned in the period when Kievan Rus' reached the zenith of its cultural flowering and military power, founder of [[Yaroslavl]]
*[[Vladimir II Monomakh]], defender of Rus' from [[Cuman]] nomads, presided over the end of the [[Golden Age]] of Kiev
*[[Yury I]] "the Long-Handed", founder of Moscow
*[[Andrey Bogolyubsky|Andrey I]], "Bogolyubsky" (the God-Loving), key figure in transition of political power from Kiev to [[Vladimir-Suzdal]]
[[File:Alexander Newski.jpg|90px|thumb|[[Alexander Nevsky]]]]
*[[Vsevolod the Big Nest|Vsevolod]] "the Big Nest", the Grand Prince of Vladimir during its Golden Age, had 14 children
*[[Alexander Nevsky]], [[Prince of Novgorod]] and Grand Prince of Vladimir, military hero famous for the [[Battle of Neva]] and the [[Battle of the Ice]], [[patron saint]] and the ''[[Name of Russia (Russia TV)|Name of Russia]]''
*[[Ivan Kalita|Ivan I]] "the Moneybag", brought wealth and power to Moscow by maintaining his loyalty to the [[Golden Horde]] and acting as its chief tax collector in Russia
*[[Simeon Gordy|Simeon]] "the Proud", continued the policies of his father Ivan I, died of the [[Black Death]]
*[[Dmitry Donskoy]], saint and war hero, the first Prince of Moscow to openly challenge Mongol authority in Russia, famous for the [[Battle of Kulikovo]]
*[[Ivan III]] "the Great", reunited the Central and Northern Rus', [[Great stand on the Ugra river|put an end]] to the [[Mongol yoke]], brought [[Renaissance architecture]] to Russia
*[[Ivan the Terrible|Ivan IV]], the first [[Tsar of Russia]], called "the Terrible" in the West; transformed Russia into a multiethnic, multiconfessional, and [[transcontinental state]]
*[[Boris Godunov]], the first non-Rurikid monarch[[File:Ivan the Terrible (cropped).JPG|90px|thumb|[[Ivan the Terrible]]]]
*[[False Dmitriy I]], the first impostor during the [[Time of Troubles]]
*[[Vasili IV]] [[Shuisky]], Tsar elected during the Time of Troubles
*[[False Dmitry II]], the second impostor during the Time of Troubles
*[[Tsar Michael|Mikhail]], first [[Romanov Dynasty|Romanov]] monarch, oversaw the largest ever expansion of Russia's territory, reaching the Pacific
[[File:Peter der-Grosse 1838.jpg|90px|thumb|[[Peter the Great]]]]
*[[Peter the Great|Peter I]] "the Great", first Russian emperor, polymath craftsman and inventor, modernized [[Imperial Russian Army|Russian Army]] and westernized culture, won the [[Great Northern War]], founded the [[Russian Navy]] and the new capital [[Saint Petersburg]]
*[[Catherine I]], first Russian empress
*[[Elizabeth of Russia|Elizabeth]], "the Merry Empress" during the era of high [[Baroque]]
*[[Catherine the Great|Catherine II]] "the Great", German-born Russian Empress during the [[Age of Enlightenment]], significantly expanded Russia's territory
[[File:Скульптура Екатерины II в "Русском Музее", г.Санкт-Петербург (2).jpg|90px|thumb|[[Catherine the Great]]]]
*[[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]], first Russian king of Poland and first Russian grand duke of Finland
*[[Aleksandr II|Alexander II]] "the Liberator", enacted the "Great Reforms" in Russian economy and social structure, including the [[emancipation reform of 1861]]
*[[Alexander III of Russia|Alexander III]] "the Peacemaker", reversed some of the liberal reforms of his father, Alexander II; this policy is known in Russia as "counter-reforms"; he also opposed any reform that limited his autocratic rule; during his reign, Russia fought no major wars
*[[Nicholas II]], the last actual emperor, forced to abdicate after the [[February Revolution]], killed with his family during the [[Russian Civil War]]

===Statesmen of the Tsardom and Empire===
{{Main|Russian Prime Ministers|Russian Foreign Ministers|Russian Ministers of War}}

*[[Aleksey Arakcheyev]], Minister of War of Alexander I, organized [[military-agricultural colonies]][[File:Golytsin GIM.jpg|90px|thumb|[[Vasily Golitsyn]]]]
*[[Abram Gannibal]], general and military engineer of [[Black African]] origin, governor of [[Reval]], the great-grandfather of [[Alexander Pushkin]] and hero of his novel ''[[The Moor of Peter the Great]]''
*[[Vasily Golitsyn]], 17th-century commander of the Russian Army, Foreign Minister and a favourite of [[Tsarevna Sophia]], abolished [[mestnichestvo|rank priority]] in the military, concluded [[Eternal Peace Treaty of 1686]] with Poland, one of the most educated Russians of the time[[File:AM Gorchakov by Bogatsky crop.jpg|90px|thumb|[[Alexander Gorchakov]]]]
*[[Fyodor Alexeyevich Golovin|Fyodor Golovin]], associate of Peter the Great, [[general admiral]], the first Russian [[field marshal]] and [[Chancellor]], the first Russian count and the first to receive the [[Order of St. Andrew]], negotiated the [[Treaty of Nerchinsk]] and the [[Treaty of Karlowitz]]
*[[Alexander Gorchakov]], Foreign Minister and Chancellor of Alexander II, a friend and rival of [[Otto von Bismarck]], denounced the [[Treaty of Paris (1856)]], advocated the [[League of the Three Emperors]]
*[[Ivan Goremykin]], twice the Prime Minister of Imperial Russia
[[File:A. Menshikov (Kuskovo).jpg|90px|thumb|[[Aleksandr Menshikov]]]]
*[[Alexander Kerensky]], second and the last Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government
*[[Franz Lefort]], tutor of Peter the Great, general and diplomat, oversaw the foundation of the [[Russian Navy]][[File:Ордин-Нащокин.jpg|90px|thumb|[[Afanasy Ordin-Nashchokin]]]]
*[[Georgy Lvov]], first Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government
*[[Aleksandr Menshikov]], associate and friend of Peter the Great, de facto ruler of Russia for two years after Peter's death, [[generalissimus]], Prince, the first [[Governor of Saint Petersburg]]
*[[Pavel Milyukov]], founder of the [[Constitutional Democratic Party]], Foreign Minister in the Russian Provisional Government
*[[Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky]], governor of the East Siberia, coloniser of the [[Priamurye]] and [[Primorye]], concluded the [[Treaty of Aigun]] and the [[Treaty of Beijing (1860)]] with China
*[[Karl Nesselrode]], Foreign Minister of Alexander II and Nicholas I, a leading European conservative statesman of the [[Holy Alliance]]
*[[G. G. Orlov|Grigory Orlov]], favourite of Catherine the Great who enthroned her, progenitor of [[Bobrinsky]] family, founder of the [[Free Economic Society]], owner of the [[Orlov Diamond]][[File:Портрет Сперанского Михаила Михайловича.jpg|90px|thumb|[[Mikhail Speransky]]]]
*[[Konstantin Pobedonostsev]], tutor to Alexander III and [[Éminence grise]] of his imperial politics
*[[Grigory Potyomkin|Grigory Potyomkin-Tavrichesky]], favourite of Catherine II, conqueror and the first governor of [[Novorossiya]], founder of [[Sevastopol]] and [[Yekaterinoslav]]
*[[Grigori Rasputin]], [[mysticism|mystic]] and healer who influenced the latter politics of Nicholas II
*[[Kyrylo Rozumovskyi|Kirill Razumovsky]], last [[Hetman of Ukrainian Cossacks]], the president of the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]]
*[[Nikolay Rumyantsev]], Foreign Minister during the [[French invasion of Russia]], founder of the [[Rumyantsev Museum]]
*[[Ivan Serebrennikov]], Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian state
*[[Mikhail Speransky]], chief reformer during the reign of Alexander I, father of [[Russian liberalism]], oversaw the publication of the ''Full Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire''[[File:E. Vorontsova-Dashkova by Dm. Levitsky (1784, Hillwood).jpg|90px|thumb|[[Ekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova]]]]
*[[Pyotr Stolypin]], Interior Minister and then Prime Minister, put down the [[Russian Revolution of 1905]], initiated [[Stolypin reform]]
*[[Pyotr Vologodsky]], Minister of Supply of the Russian state
*[[Ekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova]], closest female friend of [[Catherine the Great]], a major figure of the Russian Enlightenment, a director of the [[Imperial Academy of Arts and Sciences]] and the founder of [[Russian Academy]]
*[[Sergei Witte]], Finance Minister who later became the first [[Prime Minister of Russia]], presided over extensive [[industrialization]] of the country, and supervised the construction of the [[Trans-Siberian Railway]]

=== Soviet statesmen ===
{{Main|Soviet leaders|Soviet Premiers|Soviet heads of state|Soviet Foreign Ministers}}

* [[Nikolai Bukharin]], leading [[Bolshevik]] revolutionary, [[Marxist]] theoretician, economist and prolific author, [[Politburo]] member in the 1920s, editor of government newspapers ''[[Pravda]]'' and ''[[Izvestia]]'', author of ''[[The ABC of Communism]]''
* [[Nikolai Bulganin]], leading [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist]] politician, served as the Minister of Defense and the [[Premier of the Soviet Union]], backed [[de-Stalinization]]
* [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] last [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General Secretary of the CPSU]] and the only [[President of the Soviet Union]], launched the policies of [[glasnost]] and [[perestroika]], presided over the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]]
* [[Mikhail Kalinin]], [[Old Bolshevik]] politician and the [[Head of state of the Soviet Union]] in 1938–1946
* [[Nikita Khrushchev]], leader of the Soviet Union in 1953–1964, launched [[de-Stalinisation]] and many erratic policies, backed the progress of the early [[Soviet space program]]
* [[Alexei Kosygin]], Soviet Premier under Brezhnev, author of the eventually stifled [[1965 Soviet economic reform|Kosygin reform]] which included elements of [[capitalist]] management[[File:Molotov.bra.jpg|90px|thumb|[[Vyacheslav Molotov]]]]
* [[Vladimir Lenin]], founder of [[Bolshevik party]], the leader of the [[October Revolution]], the first Soviet head of state in 1917–1922, founder of the Soviet Union, creator of [[Leninism]]
* [[Anatoly Lunacharsky]], first Soviet Minister of Enlightenment
* [[Georgy Malenkov]], close associate of Stalin, Soviet Premier and one of the leaders after Stalin's death
* [[Vyacheslav Molotov]] Soviet Premier in the 1930s, Foreign Minister during World War II, a close associate of Stalin
* [[Yakov Sverdlov]], first ''de jure'' head of the [[Russian SFSR]]
* [[Mikhail Suslov]], leading [[ideologist]] during the Brezhnev era 
* [[Gennady Yanayev]], leader of the [[August Coup]] that attempted to depose Gorbachev
* [[Nikolai Yezhov]], Interior Minister and head of the NKVD during the period of the [[Great Purge]], was executed soon after

=== Contemporary Russian politicians ===
{{Main|Russian Presidents|Russian Prime Ministers}}

* [[Viktor Chernomyrdin]], leading politician and businessman, served as the first Chairman of [[Gazprom]] and the [[Prime Minister of Russia|Premier of Russia]]
* [[Yegor Gaidar]], leading politician and economist, served as the Premier of Russia, launched the controversial ''[[shock therapy (economics)|shock therapy]]'' reforms aimed at creating a liberal [[free market economy]] in Russia
* [[Boris Gryzlov]], leading politician, parliamentarian and diplomat, served as the [[Minister of Internal Affairs (Russia)|Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia]] and the [[Chairman of the State Duma]], currently serves as the Russian Ambassador to [[Belarus]]
* [[Mikhail Fradkov]], leading politician, intelligence official and scholar, served as Premier of Russia and the Director of the [[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|Foreign Intelligence Service]], currently heads the [[Russian Institute for Strategic Studies]]
* [[Sergei Kiriyenko]], leading politician and [[apparatchik]], served as the Premier of Russia and the General Director of [[Rosatom]], currently serves as the First Deputy Chief of Staff of the [[Presidential Administration of Russia]] 
[[File:Dmitry Medvedev official large photo -1.jpg|90px|thumb|[[Dmitry Medvedev]]]]
* [[Sergey Lavrov]], leading politician and diplomat, served as the [[Russian Ambassador to the United Nations]], currently the [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Russia)|Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia]]
* [[Yury Luzhkov]], leading politician, served as the [[Mayor of Moscow]], was one of the founders of the ruling [[United Russia]] party
* [[Evgeny Markin]], businessman, public figure and politician
* [[Valentina Matviyenko]], leading politician, parliamentarian and diplomat, served as the Russian Ambassador to [[Malta]] and Greece as well as the [[Governor of Saint Petersburg]], currently the [[Chairman of the Federation Council]]
* [[Dmitry Medvedev]], leading politician and security official, served as the [[President of Russia|President]] and the [[Prime Minister of Russia|Premier of Russia]], currently the Deputy Chairman of the [[Security Council of Russia]]
* [[Sergei Mironov]], leading politician and parliamentarian, served as [[Chairman of the Federation Council]], founder and current Chairman of the [[A Just Russia — For Truth]] party
* [[Yevgeny Primakov]], leading politician, diplomat, intelligence officer and academician, served as the Director of the [[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|Foreign Intelligence Service]], the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the [[Prime Minister of Russia|Premier of Russia]], presided over the start of Russian economic recovery and a significant change in foreign policy
* [[Vladimir Putin]], leading politician and intelligence officer, served as the Director of the [[Federal Security Service]] and the Premier of Russia, currently the [[President of Russia]], presided over impressive Russian economic recovery and military build-up, annexed [[Crimea]]
[[File:Vladimir Putin-5 edit.jpg|90px|thumb|[[Vladimir Putin]]]]
*[[Anatoly Sobchak]], first post-Soviet mayor of St. Petersburg
*[[Sergei Stepashin]], Prime Minister in 1999, currently the head of the Account Chamber of Russia (the state audit agency)
*[[Boris Yeltsin]], the first President of Russia from 1991 to 1999 
[[File:Борис Николаевич Ельцин-1 (cropped) (cropped).jpg|90px|thumb|[[Boris Yeltsin]]]]
*[[Vladimir Zhirinovsky]], founder and the leader of the [[Liberal Democratic Party of Russia]], Vice-chairman of the State Duma
*[[Gennady Zyuganov]], head of the [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation]] since 1993