The problem of criminal liability for euthanasia

The article discusses possible ways to improve Russian legislation on euthanasia issues. On the one hand, the law absolutely prohibits active euthanasia, which implies the introduction of special drugs to end the patient’s life, but allows the use of passive euthanasia by stopping measures to maintain and prolong the patient’s life. On the other hand, the motive of compassion is taken into account only when assigning punishment, however, due to its optionality, it does not guarantee its mitigation. As a result, this issue needs legal regulation.