List of heirs to the Russian throne

This is a list of the individuals who were, at any given time, considered the next in line to inherit the throne of Russia or Grand Prince of Moscow. Those who actually succeeded are shown in bold. Stillborn children and infants surviving less than a month are not included.

1281 to 1547

At this time the ruler is known as Grand Prince of Moscow.

Heir	Status	Relationship to Monarch	Became heir	Reason	Ceased to be heir	Reason	Next in line	Monarch
Yury Danilovich	Heir apparent	eldest son	1281	born	4 March 1303	became Grand Prince	Ivan Danilovich 1288-1303, brother	Daniel
Ivan Danilovich	Heir presumptive	brother	4 March 1303	brother became Grand Prince	21 November 1325	became Grand Prince	uncertain	Yury
Ivan Danilovich	Heir presumptive	brother	4 March 1303	brother became Grand Prince	21 November 1325	became Grand Prince	Simeon Ivanovich 1316-1325, son	Yury
Simeon Ivanovich	Heir apparent	eldest son	21 November 1325	father became Grand Prince	31 March 1340	became Grand Prince	Ivan Ivanovich 1325-1340, brother	Ivan I
Ivan Ivanovich	Heir presumptive	brother	31 March 1340	brother became Grand Prince	1348	son born to Grand Prince	uncertain	Simeon
Ivan Simeonovich	Heir apparent	eldest son	1349	born	1353	died	Ivan Ivanovich 1349-c. 1350, uncle	Simeon
Ivan Simeonovich	Heir apparent	eldest son	1349	born	1353	died	XX Simeonovich c. 1350-1353, brother	Simeon
Ivan Ivanovich	Heir presumptive	brother	1353	death of Grand Prince's sons	27 April 1353	became Grand Prince	Dmitry Ivanovich 1353, son	Simeon
Dmitry Ivanovich	Heir apparent	eldest son	27 April 1353	father became Grand Prince	13 November 1359	became Grand Prince	uncertain	Ivan II
Dmitry Ivanovich	Heir apparent	eldest son	27 April 1353	father became Grand Prince	13 November 1359	became Grand Prince	Ivan Ivanovich c. 1356-1359, brother	Ivan II
Ivan Ivanovich	Heir presumptive	brother	13 November 1359	brother became Grand Prince	1364	died	Vladimir Andreyevich 1359-1364, cousin	Dmitry Donskoy
Vladimir Andreyevich	Heir presumptive	cousin	1364	death of Grand Prince's brother	c. 1370	son born to Grand Prince	uncertain	Dmitry Donskoy
Daniil Dmitrievich	Heir apparent	eldest son	c. 1370	born	15 September 1379	died	Vladimir Andreyevich 1370-1371, father's cousin	Dmitry Donskoy
Daniil Dmitrievich	Heir apparent	eldest son	c. 1370	born	15 September 1379	died	Vasily Dmitrievich 1371-1379, brother	Dmitry Donskoy
Vasily Dmitrievich	Heir apparent	eldest son	15 September 1379	brother died	19 May 1389	became Grand Prince	Yury Dmitrievich 1379-1389, brother	Dmitry Donskoy
Yury Dmitrievich	Heir presumptive	brother	19 May 1389	brother became Grand Prince	30 March 1395	son born to Grand Prince	Andrey Dmitrievich 1389-1395, brother	Vasily I
Yury Vasilievich	Heir apparent	eldest son	30 March 1395	born	30 November 1400	died	Yury Dmitrievich 1395-1396, uncle	Vasily I
Yury Vasilievich	Heir apparent	eldest son	30 March 1395	born	30 November 1400	died	Ivan Vasilievich 1396-1400, brother	Vasily I
Ivan Vasilievich	Heir apparent	eldest son	30 November 1400	brother died	20 July 1417	died	Yury Dmitrievich 1400, uncle	Vasily I
Ivan Vasilievich	Heir apparent	eldest son	30 November 1400	brother died	20 July 1417	died	Daniel Vasilievich 1400-1402, brother	Vasily I
Ivan Vasilievich	Heir apparent	eldest son	30 November 1400	brother died	20 July 1417	died	Yury Dmitrievich 1402-1415, uncle	Vasily I
Ivan Vasilievich	Heir apparent	eldest son	30 November 1400	brother died	20 July 1417	died	Vasily Vasilievich 1415-1417, brother	Vasily I
Vasily Vasilievich	Heir apparent	eldest son	20 July 1417	brother died	27 February 1425	became Grand Prince	Yury Dmitrievich 1417-1425, uncle	Vasily I
Yury Dmitrievich	Heir presumptive	uncle	27 February 1425	nephew became Grand Prince	1433	seized the throne	Vasily Yurievich Kosoy 1425-1433, son	Vasily II

Heir	Status	Relationship to Monarch	Became heir	Reason	Ceased to be heir	Reason	Next in line	Monarch
Vasily Kosoy	Heir apparent	eldest son	1433	father became Grand Prince	5 June 1434	became Grand Prince	Dmitry Yurievich 1433-1434, brother	Yury II Dmitrievich
Dmitry Yurievich	Heir presumptive	brother	5 June 1434	brother became Grand Prince	1435	Grand Prince deposed by his cousin	uncertain	Vasily Kosoy

1547 to 1722

From this point of the ruler is Tsar of Russia.

1722 to 1797

Between Peter I's decree on the succession to the throne of 16 February 1722 and Paul I's decree of 15 May 1797, the Emperor had the right to name his or her own successor. All heirs in this period were nominated by the reigning monarch, rather than holding the position by right of inheritance. Despite Peter the Great's modification of the law to allow nomination of a successor by the monarch, neither he nor his two immediate successors ever nominated an heir, and Catherine I, Peter II, and Anna were all chosen irregularly, after the death of their predecessor. In addition, Ivan VI, who had not named a successor, was deposed in a coup, while Peter III, who was deposed and murdered after a coup, was succeeded not by his son Paul, his chosen successor, but by his wife, who became Catherine II.

Heir	Status	Relationship to Monarch	Became heir	Reason	Ceased to be heir	Reason	Monarch
Grand Duke Ivan Antonovich	Crown heir	grand nephew	5 October 1740	proclaimed by Empress	28 October 1740	became emperor	Anna
Grand Duke Peter Feodorovich	Heir apparent	nephew	18 November 1742	proclaimed by Empress	5 January 1762	became emperor	Elizabeth
Grand Duke Paul Petrovich	Heir apparent	son	7 January 1762	proclaimed by Emperor, and then by Empress	17 November 1796	became emperor	Peter III and Catherine II
Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich	Heir apparent	son	28 November 1796	proclaimed by Emperor	15 May 1797	Decree of the succession to the throne	Paul I

1797 to 1917

In 1797, Emperor Paul modified the laws of succession, abolishing the Petrine law and establishing in its place a law establishing semi-Salic succession among his own descendants. This law remained until the abolition of the monarchy.
Although Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich renounced his claims to the throne in 1822, he did so secretly, and so was still widely viewed as heir to the throne until his older brother's death in 1825. At the death of Alexander I, the next brother, who would become Nicholas I, deferred his claims until his older brother Constantine renounced once again, but after Constantine's second renunciation he claimed to have taken the throne immediately upon Alexander's death.

Monarch	Heir	Relationship to monarch	Became heir	Ceased to be heir	Next in line of succession
Paul I	Tsesarevich Alexander Pavlovich	Son	15 May 1797	23 March 1801	Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich, brother
Alexander I	Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich	Brother	23 March 1801 Brother became emperor	26 January 1822 Renounced claim to the throne	Grand Duke Nicholas Pavlovich, brother
Alexander I	Grand Duke Nicholas Pavlovich	Brother	26 January 1822 Brother renounced	1 December 1825 Brother died, became emperor	Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich, son
Nicholas I	Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich	Son	1 December 1825 Father became emperor	2 March 1855 Father died, became emperor	Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich, 1825–1827, uncle
Nicholas I	Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich	Son	1 December 1825 Father became emperor	2 March 1855 Father died, became emperor
Nicholas I	Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich	Son	1 December 1825 Father became emperor	2 March 1855 Father died, became emperor	Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich, 1843–1855, son
Alexander II	Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich	Son	2 March 1855 Father became emperor	24 April 1865 Died	Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich, brother
Alexander II	'	Son	24 April 1865 Brother died	13 March 1881 Father assassinated, became emperor	Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, 1865–1868, brother
Alexander II	'	Son	24 April 1865 Brother died	13 March 1881 Father assassinated, became emperor
	Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich	Son	13 March 1881 Father became emperor	1 November 1894 Father died, became emperor	Grand Duke George Alexandrovich, brother
Nicholas II	Grand Duke George Alexandrovich	Brother	1 November 1894 Brother became emperor	10 July 1899 Died	Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, brother
Nicholas II	Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich	Brother	10 July 1899 Brother died	12 August 1904 Son born to emperor	Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, uncle
Nicholas II	Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich	Son	12 August 1904 Born	15 March 1917	Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, uncle