The priority project «Formation of a healthy lifestyle», one of the tasks of which is to monitor the adherence to a healthy lifestyle (HLS) at the population level, has been approved in Russia. Objective — to develop an integration indicator (healthy lifestyle adherence index (HLAI)) and to estimate its prevalence in Russia and the association with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, by using Russian data. Subject and methods. The analysis included the survey findings of representative random samples of 25—64-year-old people from the regions of Russia, who were enrolled into the ESSE-RF study. The response rates were approximately 80%. Sociodemographic parameters, behavioral factors, and eating habits were analyzed using the standard epidemiological methods and criteria. The mean follow-up of mortality and cardiovascular morbidity was 4.5 years; there were 240 deaths, including 188 cardiovascular ones, and the total cardiovascular endpoint was 771. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS), version 6.12-descriptive statistics, and the Cox proportional hazard model. Results. To estimate the proportion of citizens who were adherent to HLS, the HLAI was proposed, which included the following components: no smoking; a minimum daily intake of 400 g of fruits and vegetables; at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week); normal salt intake of less than 5 g per day); alcohol consumption up to 168 g of pure ethanol per week for men and up to 84 g for women. The degrees of adherence to a healthy lifestyle adherence were as follows: 1) satisfactory: no smoking and the presence of any one component of HLS; 2) high: no smoking in the presence of all HLS components. The satisfactory HLAI was detectable in 49.6% among the population; it was significantly higher in women than in men (p<0.001). The high HLAI was noted in 16.7% and 2 times more frequently in women (p<0.001). The investigators analyzed the associations of the satisfactory HLAI with all-cause and CVD mortality, as well as with fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events. With the satisfactory adherence to HLS, the all-cause and CVD mortality rates were 39% (p=0.0003) was 36% (p=0.0035) below, respectively; and the total cardiovascular events were 19% lower (p=0.0058). Conclusion. The risk factors that had formed HLAI for the adult population of Russia were selected, by using the Russian data. The application of this index will be able to study the degree of HLS adherence at the population level. In addition, the presence and nature of HLAI changes in response to preventive measures are important in evaluating the effectiveness of the priority project «Formation of a healthy lifestyle».