The acting president of the Russian Federation (Russian: Исполняющий обязанности Президента Российской Федерации) is a temporary post provided by the Constitution of Russia. The acting president is a person who fulfils the duties of the president of the Russian Federation when cases of incapacity and vacancy occur. However, the person who takes office is more limited in power as the acting president can not dissolve the State Duma, call a referendum, or propose constitutional amendments. This post is held by the prime minister of Russia.

The Russian Constitution does not explicitly specify who should become acting president if the prime minister is not appointed or cannot perform his or her duties. This gap is to some extent filled by the Federal Constitutional Law "About the Government of the Russian Federation", article 8 of which states:^[3]

In the temporary absence of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, his duties shall be performed by one of the Deputy Prime Ministers of the Russian Federation in accordance with the written delineation of responsibilities.

Accordingly, if it is assumed that the performance of the duties of the president in urgent cases is one of the direct duties of the prime minister, and his deputies are authorized to perform all his duties in case of his absence, the duties of the president should be temporarily assigned to one of the deputy prime ministers in the order of substitution, established by order of the prime minister. However, the legality of the temporary performance of the duties of the president by the deputy prime ministers is groundless, both from practical and theoretical positions. So far, these gaps in the legislation have not yet manifested themselves.^[4]

On the other hand, some believe that if the prime minister cannot serve as acting president, the acting president should be the chairman of the Federation Council.^[5][6] However, nowhere in the legislation is this fixed.

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