This paper analyzes poverty dynamics (flows into and out of poverty) in rural and urban areas in Russia during the 1990s, using the panel data of the RLMS and the aggregated data of the official household surveys. The study identifies the differences among the rural and urban poor. The results of the analysis indicate that the urban poverty is inclined to transient poverty, while the rural poverty is inclined to longer-term poverty. In contrast to the urban poverty, the rural poverty is related not only to the working poor, but also to hidden unemployment and unskilled jobs. The paper concludes that the rural poverty results from lack of the industries that could afford rural residents more opportunities to keep or improve their living standards. Although economic growth is crucial for the alleviation of the poverty in Russia, it is more effective in reducing not the rural poverty, but the urban poverty, i.e. the transient poverty.