This species is within the subgenus Pelias according to Nilson et al. (1999) and was formerly treated as a synonym subspecies of Vipera ursinii. The results of Joger and Stumpel (2005) restricted the name Vipera ursinii to the remnant, disjunct, populations in Europe west of Ukraine (Nilson and Andrén 2001, Joger and Stumpel 2005, Ferchaud et al. 2012, Zinenko et al. 2015) and revalidated V. renardi.

Taxonomic issues remain within this group, particularly in the correct delimitation of range limits between the subspecies V. r. renardi and V. r. pustanovi and in the relationships between a number of previously described names of uncertain validity. Following Frietas et al. (2020) Vipera altaica and V. lotievi are treated as junior synonyms of V. renardi. The appropriate status of V. eriwanensis - including as synonyms the former species V. shemakhensis and V. eberneri - remains uncertain following these authors' review, but it is treated here as a subspecies of V. renardi following their recommendation that "a subspecific status must be appropriate" pending further research.

Additionally, the taxonomic status of the subpopulations from the Kazakh Altai remains unclear.

European regional assessment: Vulnerable (VU)
EU 27 regional assessment: Not Recorded

The Eastern Steppe Viper is listed as Vulnerable (A2c) for the European region because it is estimated to have undergone a population decline that may have exceeded 30% over the past three generations (18 years), based on the inferred rate of decline across its global range and accounting for the greater scale of both land conversion and observed decline within Europe. It is at extreme risk in some parts of Ukraine and European Russia, warranting efforts to list this species in regional and national Red Lists and to prompt conservation actions for threatened subpopulations. Habitat loss and fragmentation is continuing throughout its range. It does not occur within the EU 27 Member States.

In the European region, this species has a restricted range in eastern Ukraine and ranges widely in East, Central and South European Russia. In the north it reaches a range limit in the Volzhsky-Kamsky Territory. In Ukraine, it has been recorded from as low as 20-60 m asl (Kukushkin et al. 2019). It reaches elevations as high as perhaps ca.1,000 m in the Crimean Mountains.

The range of V. renardi covers the forest-steppe, steppe, semi-desert and desert zones in the Volga basin of the European part of Russia, extending from the mouth of the Volga to the north to about 55 ° N. sh. in Tatarstan. Judging by the literature, over the past decades, the northern limit of distribution may have shifted - by several tens of kilometers - first to the north and then to the south. Subspecies V. r. bashkirovi is distributed in the Spassky region of Tatarstan, as well as in the left-bank regions of the Samara, left- and right-bank regions of the Ulyanovsk regions. The rest of the range of this viper in the Volga basin is occupied by the nominative subspecies V. r. renardi (Bakiyev et al. 2015).

Outside Europe, this snake has been recorded from Armenia, Azerbaijan (Nachitschevan; K. Mebert pers. comm. October 2022), the North Caucasus region of Russia, and adjacent regions of Georgia, Iran (where - as Vipera ebneri - it has been recorded from alpine meadows in the Elburz Mountains), and northwest Central Asia (Kazakhstan, and marginally in southern Siberia, and Kyrgyzstan), with an eastern range limit in the Altai and Dzungaria in extreme northwest China. It reaches elevations as high as 2,200 m asl in the Caucuses.

The species is common in areas of suitable habitat. The species is likely to have been impacted by high levels of historical offtake for venom extraction; about 30,000 specimens are estimated to have been collected in the 1960s and '70s (Bogdanov 1965, Smirnovsky 1961, Fomina 1966, Makeev 1966), and there is no current collection of venom. While it remains a common species in the Russian Federation, it is declining in the European portion and suffering a range reduction, especially in the northern part of its range (I. Doronin pers. comm) as a result of the transformation of steppe habitats to agriculture. It has become extinct in many parts of its European Russian range (K. Milto pers. comm. 2016), including the Tambov region (from which it was last recorded in 1920; Sokolov and Lada 2012). It has not been recorded in the Sevastopol region of Ukraine for more than 25 years, and if the record from this area is accurate it is likely to have become extinct in this region (Kukushkin et al. 2019). It has not been recorded from the adjacent Bakhchysarai District since the 1990s (Kukushkin et al. 2019).

In regions of Russia for which density data is available (taken from the regional Red Data Books) declines have been documented. It was formerly abundant in the Stavropol Territory. In the Samara region observed densities fell from 30 /ha to 5 /ha in one district following grazing, while in Kinelsky district densities appear to have fallen by 50% in 10 years. Densities of 3-4 /ha are now thought to be typical. Prior to protection of the Rostovsky Natural Reserve densities fell from 2-4 individuals /ha in the late 1970s and early 1980s to 0.3 /ha. While this decline is unlikely to be ongoing following gazetting of the protected area - and indeed later survey evidence (1996) reported densities 1.2 /ha, suggesting that recovery can be fairly rapid following habitat protection - across this region more widely densities of 0.1-0.5 ha have been recorded in more developed areas, contrasting with apparently natural densities of 10-30 /ha in the southern part of this region. Densities vary widely in the Saratov region, typically being from 0.7-4.8 /ha but up to 12.8 in highland areas. In the less developed steppe east of the Volga densities can reach 17 /ha. In the Republic of Tatarstan the species has an estimated population size of 700-1,500 based on reliable census data. As of the 2006 Red Data Book it is confined to a single subpopulation in Tatarstan under pressure from grazing and landscape modification.

Despite these extensive quantitative data across part of the range, rates of decline - and the timeframe of both declines and observations - vary widely across this species' vast range and it is not possible to quantify rates of decline with any confidence. It is cautiously estimated that they may be in the region of 20% over a three-generation period across the species' range as a whole. Declines have been most severe in the European portion of the range - likely corresponding to a decline in the European region in excess of 30% over the same time period.

This snake is primarily associated with open meadows and hillsides. The Ukrainian subpopulation (considered the endemic subpopulation Vipera renardi puzanovi) "supposedly" occurs in plains with steppe vegetation (Kukushkin et al. 2019).

In the foothills of the North Caucasus, out of the European region, the species occurs sporadically in areas of high humidity, including floodplains in semi-desert, forested areas in slopes and gullies and along the shore of lakes and other waterbodies in the Kuma-Manych depression (Doronin 2013a, 2013b). Upland subspecies are generally found on well-drained rocky hillsides, steppe and meadows, while the lowland forms are found in either steppe, or dry or damp meadows. It occurs in plain and sagebrush steppes, alpine meadows transformed into steppe, solonchaks (saline land) semi-deserts and stabilized sands. This species is absent from cultivated lands and in cultivated landscapes persists only in ravines and along roadsides and river banks. For instance, in the lower left bank area of the Dnieper River in the Zaporozhskaya, Dnepropetrovskaya and Khersonskaya regions the viper is found only in the narrow strip of a steep bank with bush vegetation in the area between water and arable land. It is a viviparous species. Pregnancy lasts up to three months. Young emerge (4-24) in July - September (Doronin 2013a, 2013b).

Animals become sexually mature at two (in southern subpopulations) or three (in northern subpopulations) years, and can live more than 11 years (Bakiyev et al. 2015).

The major threat to this species in Europe, where declines are believed to have been most pronounced, is the conversion of traditionally farmed meadows to intensively cultivated and grazed land because it prefers open meadows and other suitable land suitable for agriculture. Development for agriculture has also led to significant fragmentation throughout its range. Coastal development and infrastructure development is an impact in Crimea particularly (B. Halpern pers. comm. 2022). Habitat shifting as a result of climate change may also impact this species.

There is a small international pet trade in this species. It has historically been heavily-exploited for venom extraction, and some level of harvest continues in many parts of its range.

There are many protected areas within the range of this species. There is a need to protect the specific meadow and grassland habitats of this species, which has been shown to be an effective way of increasing population densities in this snake. While the species is declining in the Stavropol Territory it is not included in the regional Red Data Book. The species is included on the Red Data Book of the Ukraine (1994) - category 2 and of Uzbekistan (2003) - status and category 2, VU:D, as well as into the "Annotated List of Taxa and Populations required a Special Attention to their Status in the Wildlife "(Appendix to the Red Data Book of Russian Federation 2001). It is included in regional Red Data Books for the Tambov region (2012, as an extinct species), Saamara region (2009), Rostov region (2004, as a category 2 - declining - species), Saratov region (2006, as a category 3 - low-density - species) and Tartarstan (2006, as a category 1 - restricted population - species). There is a need for further taxonomic research into this species, as well as habitat protection and restoration.