In the researches carried out in 2021–2023 at the Federal Agricultural Research Center of the North-East named N.V. Rudnitsky (Kirov) in the conditions of the vegetation experiment, 10 varieties of spring barley of different origin were evaluated by simulation of drought (breeding varieties of the Federal Agricultural Research Center of the North-East named N.V. Rudnitsky of hybrid and regenerative origin, collection samples). The drought was simulated at the onset of the phase “stem elongation” by stopping irrigation and film sheltering from atmospheric precipitation, eliminating the greenhouse effect. The time of water stress application corresponded to the vegetative interphase of the plants “stem elongation – earing”. The aim of the research was to determine the effect of productivity elements on the yield of spring barley varieties and to determine the elements associated with the variability of the yield of varieties with an increasing drought in the interphase period “stem elongation – earing” and, based on these data, to select drought-resistant varieties. To evaluate the drought resistance of varieties, the Drought Resistance Index (DSI) was used as the ratio of the variety parameters to the average value for all varieties in the presence and absence of stress. The conducted researches have shown that the studied varieties reacted differently to the presence of drought in the interphase period “stem elongation – earing”. It was found that water deficiency significantly reduced the yield of all barley varieties by an average of 73g/m2 and affected the development of most elements of its structure. In the presence of drought, there was no evidence of productivity of barley plants associated with the yield of varieties. Under favorable vegetative conditions (absence of drought), an influence of head length (r = 0.613), head productivity (r = 0.81) and plant productivity (r = 0.84), thousand grain weight (r = 0.56) on the yield of barley varieties was found. The calculation of the correlation between yield DSI and structural elements showed a reliable relationship (r = 0.91) only between the yield DSI and the index “thousand grain weight”, therefore, highly productive genotypes under water stress in the interphase period “stem elongation – earing” should be selected according to the severity of the feature “thousand grain weight”. The varieties Novichok, Tallon, Forward and Bionic can be used as crossing components in appropriate breeding programs.