Secondary salinization is one of the most widespread types of soil degradation in Russia. It is most widely spread on irrigated lands in steppe and dry-steppe regions of the country. Based on data obtained over the past 30 years, the database on secondary salinization of soils in Russia has been updated. As a basis the data of the uniform state register of soils of Russia which is completely compatible to a format of the Soil and geographical database of the European Union are used. The information on prevalence of secondary saline soils and secondary sodic soils has been specified. It is shown that in Russia, in contrast to other countries of the world, a greater danger is secondary sodification of soils. The results are presented as vector layers in geoinformation format. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.