| Summary: | Cestodes <i>Paranoplocephala kalelai</i>, which parasitizes in the small intestine of <i>Myodes</i> voles and is distributed in northern Fennoscandia, was found in six habitats in the Asian part of Russia and eastern Kazakhstan, which indicates a wider distribution of <i>P. kalelai</i> on the continent. Analysis of mtDNA showed that <i>P. kalelai</i> is characterized by significant molecular variability in Eurasia. This study complements the data on the distribution of <i>P. kalelai</i> and provides the first molecular data from the territory of Russia and Kazakhstan. The sequence variability of two mitochondrial genes <i>cox1</i> and <i>nad1</i> of <i>P. kalelai</i> was studied in two species of voles: gray red-backed <i>Myodes rufocanus</i> and northern red-backed vole <i>Myodes rutilus</i>. Five haplotype groups in the <i>cox1</i> and <i>nad1</i> gene networks were identified, and the existence of two mtDNA lines in <i>P. kalelai</i> outside northern Fennoscandia was confirmed. The geographical distribution of the identified haplotypes suggests that the foothills of the Altai-Sayan mountains and southern West Siberia may serve as a refugium for <i>P. kalelai</i> during repeated glaciations.
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