Panarin's was selected to the top senior squad for Russia's hockey team in the 2015 IIHF World Championship, earning a silver medal. He recorded ten points in ten games. He also played in the 2016 IIHF World Championship, where Russia earned a bronze medal. Early in the tournament, head coach Oleg Znarok formed a highly-productive line of Panarin (six goals and nine assists) and his former SKA Saint Petersburg teammates Vadim Shipachyov (6 goals and 12 assists) and Evgenii Dadonov (six goals and seven assists). Panarin, Shipachyov and Dadonov finished as the top three scorers of the tournament.