Polygamy in Russia

Polygamousmarriages are not recognized in theRussian Federation.TheFamily Code of Russiastates that amarriagecan 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 factopolygamy or multiplecohabitationin and of itself is not a crime.

Due to the imbalance between urban educated women and men in predominantlyMongol-inhabited regions of Russia, men sometimes may have multiple women as wives, one report claims.This sometimes results in households that are openlyde factopolygamous.

By subject of Russia

Republic of Chechnya

Ramzan Kadyrov,the head of the Republic ofChechnya,is a polygamist. He has three wives and has spoken out in favor of the practice.

Republic of Ingushetia

In July 1999,Ruslan Aushev,at the time the president ofIngushetia,signed a decree allowing men in therepublicto marry up to four wives, in accordance with theIslamic tradition.Russia's justice ministerimmediately criticized the regional decree as unconstitutional since it directly contradicted provisions of a federal law (theFamily Code).Aushev's decree was struck down by the courts a year later, by which time over 15 men in Ingushetia had taken advantage of the right to officially register their marriages to multiple women.