This species is mainly found in humid areas including broad-leaf, mixed and coniferous forests, swamps, steppes, sub-alpine and alpine meadows, as well as, water bodies including mountain rivers, streams, and springs, where large clusters of frogs occasionally form, sometimes in silt at the bottom of backwaters (Popov 1958, Tuniyev and Beregovaya 1993, Tarkhnishvili and Gokhelashvili 1999, Askenderov 2014). In dry areas this species is generally limited to areas close to permanent lakes, rivers, brooks and springs that are often surrounded by dense herbaceous and shrubby vegetation. According to Bülbül et al. (2019), this species remains on land in the absence of suitable water bodies.

The results obtained from Ecological Niche Factor Analysis (ENFA) and Maxent habitat predictions indicate that this species prefers grassland and needle leaf deciduous forest with high elevations and low temperature (Najibzadeh et al. 2017). Individuals overwintering on land were found in the burrows of small mammals, gaps between tree roots, and leaf litter (Tuniyev and Beregovaya 1993, Askenderov 2014). Tarkhnishvili and Gokhelashvili (1999) believe that the choice of overwintering location depends on age and habitat. For example, in forests, young individuals overwinter on land, and adults overwinter both on land and in water; in subalpine meadows, they overwinter in lakes. This species is presumed to be tolerant of some habitat disturbance such as light grazing.

It breeds in various stagnant and slow-flowing waterbodies (Melkumyan and Sirunyan 1988, Egiazaryan 2008, Arakelyan et al. 2011). Favorable breeding sites are temporary pools and puddles situated along the banks of the river and streams (Tarkhnishvili and Gokhelashvili 1999). Spawning starts after the melting of snow around breeding sites and is completed in two-three weeks. A female deposits a single egg-clutch containing 200-3500 eggs in a season (Tarkhnishvili 1993). After the completion of spawning, frogs disperse throughout the terrestrial habitats. They can move at least 5-6 km from a breeding site (Tarkhnishvili and Gokhelashvili 1999). Mean body length of specimens in different four subpopulations in Georgia varied from 57 to 73 mm, the mean age of frogs varied from 2.6 to 8 years (Gokhelashvili and Tarkhnishvili 1994, Tarkhnishvili et al. 1996). Snout-vent length in two subpopulations in Azerbaijan ranged from 48.40 to 73.20 mm (x = 63.44 mm) in male specimens, 46.60 to 84.40 mm (x= 68.34 mm) in female specimens (Gasimova and Ahmedov 2015). A similar study on four subpopulation in Türkiye showed that snout-vent length of specimens ranged from 40.40  to 79.00 mm, while the age of frogs in different subpopulations varied from 2–10 years (Kutrup et al. 2011).

This species is found in the Anatolian Türkiye to the Caucasus Mountains of Russia, Georgia, Armenia (Mount Aragatz and Jawajhet mountain range, vicinity of the Gukasyan) and Azerbaijan (Zagatala and Guba district); thence into north-western Iran (West Azarbaijan, East Azarbaijan, Ardabil, Zanjan, Kordestan, Kermanshah, Lorestan, Hamedan, Qazvin, Markazi, Esfahan, and Chaharmahalo-Bakhtiari provinces) (Baran and Atatür 1986, Mulder 1995, 2019; Kami and Vakilpoure 1996, Kumlutaş et al. 1998, Tarkhnishvili et al. 1999, 2001; Baran et al. 2004, 2007; Çevik et al. 2006, Düşen 2007, Eser 2009, Martirosyan and Stepanyan 2009, Çiçek 2011, Carretero et al. 2011, Heckmann et al. 2011, Kutrup et al. 2011, Afsar et al. 2011, 2014, 2015; Gasimova and Akhmedov 2015, Picariello et al. 2016, Kalaycı et al. 2017, Najibzadeh et al. 2017, Avci et al. 2018, Beşir and Gül 2019, Ilgaz et al. 2019, Bulakhova et al. 2020, Gidiş and Başkale 2020, Pesarakloo et al. 2020). 

In Russia, it has distributed in the northern slope of the Caucasus Mountain, mountain part of Dagestan, North Ossetia Nature Reserve and Yew-box Grove in the Caucasian State Biosphere Reserve (Tuniyev and Beregovaya 1993, Meschersky 1997, Bulakhova et al. 2020). An isolated subpopulation exists on the Strizhament Mountain in the Stavropolskii Region of Russia. It also has been recorded from Iraq (Kevork 1972, Amr 2009, Al-Barazengy et al. 2015) but further details of these subpopulations are needed. Subpopulations from Bolkar Dagi, in the Taurus Range in southern Türkiye have now been assigned to this species, following the synonymy of Rana holtzi with this species (Afsar et al. 2015). It occurs between sea level and 3,000 m asl.