In 1993, the Russian Ministry of Justice developed the first legal mandate for regulating polygraph use by the Federal Security Service, thereby legalizing the applied use of the technique in Russia. In 1994, polygraph examinations were introduced in the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1996, the tax police began using the polygraph in their operations. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Defense did the same in 1998. Divisions of the military prosecutor's office have recently begun using polygraph examinations more often. For several years criminal science in Russia failed to address issues in the widespread use of the polygraph in the country. It was not until the late 1990's that criminal-investigation science began to pay attention to the polygraph technique. This article outlines eight developments in the theory and practice of the polygraph examinations that have occurred in Russia over the last 2 or 3 years. The cited advancements have brought the polygraph examination into modern criminalistics in Russia, such that it has become one of the established tools in forensic investigations. What remains to be done is the establishment of standardized training and qualifications for polygraph examiners as well as uniform standards for conducting polygraph examinations. 2 references