The photochemical behaviour of [RuL(2)(BL)X](+) (1) and [L(2)XRu(BL)RuXL(2)](2+) (2) (L = 2,2'-bipyridyl (bpy), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen); BL=4,4'-bipyridyl (4,4'-bpy), pyrazine (pyz) and trans-1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethylene (dppene); X=Cl, NO2) in acetonitrile and methanol solutions during steady state irradiation at lambda=450 nm was studied. Compounds 1 and 2 (L=bpy, X=Cl) with both bridging and terminal dppene ligands were found to be photochemically inert. The irradiation of compounds 1 and 2 with BL=pyz and 4,4'-bpy resulted in the formation of solvate complexes [RuL(2)(Solv)X](+) (3) in both acetonitrile and methanol; however, the photolysis of 2 proceeded via a mixture (1:1) of 1 and 3 in the first step. The quantum yields of the processes under study are discussed in terms of the excited states.