| Competition: | Russian Premier League |
| Season: | 2002 |
| Winners: | Lokomotiv Moscow 1st title |
| Relegated: | Anzhi Makhachkala Sokol Saratov |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Lokomotiv Moscow CSKA Moscow |
| Continentalcup2: | UEFA Cup |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Spartak Moscow Torpedo Moscow |
| Matches: | 240 |
| Total Goals: | 584 |
| League Topscorer: | Rolan Gusev & Dmitri Kirichenko (15) |
| Prevseason: | 2001 |
| Nextseason: | 2003 |
2002 was the first season of the Russian Premier League. While the structure of the competition did not change, the top level clubs gained independence from the Professional Football League.
Spartak's six-year dominance in the league was broken by Lokomotiv.
As in the previous season, 16 teams are playing in the 2002 season, with the name of the league changing from the 'Top Division' to the 'Premier League'. After the 2001 season, Fakel Voronezh and Chernomorets Novorossiysk were relegated to the 2002 Russian First Division. They were replaced by Uralan Elista and Shinnik Yaroslavl, the winners and runners up of the 2001 Russian First Division.
| Alania | Anzhi | CSKA | Dynamo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican Spartak Stadium | Dynamo Stadium | Central Stadium | Central Stadium | |
| Capacity: 32,464 | Capacity: 15,200 | Capacity: 36,540 | Capacity: 36,540 | |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | Krylia Sovetov Samara | |||
| RZD Arena | Metallurg Stadium | |||
| Capacity: 27,084 | Capacity: 33,001 | |||
| Rostselmash | Rotor | |||
| Olimp-2 | Central Stadium | |||
| Capacity: 15,840 | Capacity: 32,120 | |||
| Saturn | Shinnik | |||
| Saturn Stadium | Shinnik Stadium | |||
| Capacity: 14,685 | Capacity: 22,871 | |||
| Sokol | Spartak | |||
| Lokomotiv Stadium | Luzhniki Stadium | |||
| Capacity: 15,000 | Capacity: 81,029 | |||
| Torpedo | Torpedo-ZIL | Uralan | Zenit Saint Petersburg | |
| Luzhniki Stadium | Eduard Streltsov Stadium | Uralan Stadium | Petrovsky Stadium | |
| Capacity: 81,029 | Capacity: 13,450 | Capacity: | Capacity: 21,570 | |
| Team | Location | Head coach | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alania | Vladikavkaz |  Bakhva Tedeyev | Adidas | - | |
| Anzhi | Makhachkala | Gadzhi Gadzhiyev |  Nike | - | |
| CSKA | Moscow | Valery Gazzaev | Umbro | - | |
| Dynamo | Moscow |  Viktor Prokopenko | Nike | - | |
| Lokomotiv | Moscow | Yuri Semin | Nike | MZD | |
| Krylia | Samara | Aleksandr Tarkhanov | Umbro | - | |
| Rostselmash | Rostov-on-Don |  Diadora | Alfa-Eko | ||
| Rotor | Volgograd | Vladimir Salkov | Umbro | - | |
| Saturn | Ramenskoye | Vladimir Shevchuk | Nike | - | |
| Shinnik | Yaroslavl | Aleksandr Pobegalov | Nike | Yaroslavl Tire Plant | |
| Sokol | Saratov | Leonid Tkachenko | Umbro | - | |
| Spartak | Moscow | Oleg Romantsev | Adidas | Lukoil | |
| Torpedo | Moscow | Sergei Petrenko | Diadora | - | |
| Torpedo-ZIL | Moscow | Vadim Nikonov | Umbro | ZiL | |
| Uralan | Elista |  Revaz Dzodzuashvili | Lotto | - | |
| Zenit | Saint Petersburg | Boris Rappoport | Diadora | Gazprom |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dynamo | Aleksandr Novikov | April 2002 | Viktor Prokopenko | April 2002 | ||||
| Sokol | Alexander Koreshkov | April 2002 | April 2002 | |||||
| Zenit | Yury Morozov | April 2002 | April 2002 | |||||
| Anzhi | Leonid Tkachenko | May 2002 | May 2002 | |||||
| Sokol | May 2002 | Leonid Tkachenko | May 2002 | |||||
| Anzhi | June 2002 | Myron Markevych | June 2002 | |||||
| Alania | Vladimir Muntyan | July 2002 | Bakhva Tedeyev | July 2002 | ||||
| Torpedo | Vitaly Shevchenko | July 2002 | Sergei Petrenko | July 2002 | ||||
| Zenit | July 2002 | Yury Morozov | July 2002 | |||||
| Zenit | Yury Morozov | July 2002 | July 2002 | |||||
| Anzhi | Myron Markevych | August 2002 | August 2002 | |||||
| Anzhi | August 2002 | Gadzhi Gadzhiyev | August 2002 | |||||
| Rostselmash | Anatoly Baidachny | August 2002 | August 2002 | |||||
| Uralan | Sergei Pavlov | August 2002 | August 2002 | |||||
| Uralan | August 2002 | Revaz Dzodzuashvili | August 2002 | |||||
| Zenit | August 2002 | Boris Rappoport | August 2002 |
| Rank | Player | Club | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rolan Gusev | 15 | |
| Dmitri Kirichenko | |||
| 3 | Aleksandr Kerzhakov | 14 | |
| 4 | Vladimir Beschastnykh | 12 | |
| Andrei Karyaka | |||
| 6 |  Robertas Poškus | 11 | |
 Serghei Rogaciov | |||
| Igor Semshov | |||
| 9 | Aleksandr Shirko | 10 | |
| Zurab Tsiklauri |
On December 10 Russian Football Union named its list of 33 top players:[1]
Sargis Hovsepyan (Zenit) Bohdan Shershun (CSKA Moscow) Dmytro Parfenov (Spartak Moscow)
Oleg Pashinin (Lokomotiv Moscow)
Jacob Lekgetho (Lokomotiv Moscow)
Ibra Kébé (Spartak Moscow)
Elvir Rahimić (CSKA Moscow)
Ognjen Koroman (Dynamo Moscow) Vladimir Maminov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
James Obiorah (Lokomotiv Moscow)
(15 / 4), 
(11 / 3), 
(8 / 1), 
(27 / 3), 
(
(27), 
(12), 
(24 / 1), 
(1).