ABSTRACTIn this article, we outline the place of Russian criminology on the world criminological map during the pre-Soviet, Soviet, and post-Soviet eras. We examine the external institutional and economic pressures experienced by the field of criminology in past decades and assess its current development against the backdrop of other social sciences in Russia. Further, we interface these arguments with data drawn off Russian academics’ perceptions on whether criminology as a discipline has significantly transformed in Russia after the breakdown of the Soviet Union, how relevant Russian criminology is for the practice of law-enforcement and state crime control policy, and whether criminology has appropriate placement within law schools which serve as primary residence for the discipline. Finally, we conclude with some reflection on the current state of Russian criminology and the future directions of the discipline.