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Russia imposes term limits on its president, preventing officeholders from being reelected after a number of terms has been reached. It historically imposed term limits on governors of its federal subjects. These limits are defined by the Constitution of Russia.
The President of Russia is limited to no more than two six-year terms. Prior to constitutional amendments in 2020, the limit applied only to consecutive terms, allowing a term-limited president to be elected again after one term out of office. The only presidents to be term-limited are Boris Yeltsin in 2000 and Vladimir Putin in 2008 and again in 2024. Since becoming president, Putin has taken several measures to circumvent his term limits. After leaving office in 2008, he retained control over the executive as prime minister, holding power over his chosen successor President Dmitry Medvedev. The 2020 amendments then exempted him from being term-limited in 2024 by excluding his previous terms, allowing him two more terms before reaching the constitutional limit. Presidents have refrained from abolishing term limits entirely because of the broad support for limits among the Russian people and the potential for political backlash.
Governors of federal subjects have not been subject to term limits since 2021. Prior to this, they were subject to a 2012 law that limited them to no more than two five-year terms consecutively but allowed them to be elected again after one term of separation from the office. From 2004 to 2012, governors were appointed by the president and could be reappointed indefinitely. Other term limits have existed historically in present-day Russia, including limits on executive office in the medieval republics of Novgorod and Pskov, as well as limits on members of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union established by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1989.