The district's history dates back to 1612, and it is named after a Don Cossack Butov.

The area of the district is 27 square kilometres (10 sq mi).

Situated approximately 27 km south-east of Moscow, Butovo is the site of the Butovo firing range, a mass grave dating from the "Great Purge" of the 1930s.

In excess of 20,000 people were shot and buried there from August 1937 to October 1938 [1].

It has become a shrine to Joseph Stalin's victims and has an Orthodox church on the grounds.