Objective - to study trends in the prevalence and intensity of smoking among the population of some regions of Russia in relation to gender, age, residence, education level, and well-being. Material and methods. The representative samples of Russia's population, which were examined in 1993 ("Russian monitoring the economic status and population health"), in 2003-2004 ("Prevention and treatment of hypertension in the Russian Federation"), and in 2012-2014 (ESSE-RF) were analyzed. The smokers were those who smoked at least one cigarette a day or those who quit smoking a less than a year ago. The men were considered to be intensive smokers if they smoked more than 20 cigarettes a day; there were more than 10 female intensive smokers. The statistical analysis system was used. Results. The smoking prevalence among the men decreased from 59.8% (1993) to 39.0% (2013); that among the women increased in the same period from 9.1 to 13.6% (p<0.0005). The smoking rate reduced with age; an inverse relationship was found between education level and smoking rate both among men and women; the smoking rate linearly rose with their income. The proportion of intensive smokers among the men increased from 4.6% in 2003 to 19.7% in 2013 and that among the women did from 2.3 to 8%, respectively. Conclusion. Smoking prevalence in Russia remains high with significantly reduced smoking rates among men and with their rose in women having increased smoking intensity. Monitoring reflecting trends in the prevalence of smoking along with other risk factors is a necessary condition for assessing preventive measures. The basic condition is the constancy of the prevention process. Smoking control should be a permanently acting and developing area, rather than a campaign organized from time to time.