.ru
country code top-level domain for Russia and Transnistria
.ru is the Latin alphabet Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Russia introduced on 7 April 1994. The Russian alphabet internationalized country code is .рф.
Control of .ru is assigned to the Coordination Center for TLD RU (CC for TLD RU), the current official registry. On 1 January 2005, the former registry, the Russian Institute for Public Networks (RIPN), stopped new registrations directly under .ru, but still carried out registry operations for domain names under the second-level domains .com.ru, .net.ru, .org.ru and .pp.ru.
The company RELCOM also proposes third-level registrations beneath various second-level domains such as .msk.ru (Moscow), while Macomnet Telcom proposes third-level registrations beneath .int.ru simultaneously.
Background
The creation of .ru in April 1994 was preceded by a historical agreement in 1993 known as "The order of RU top-level domain administration". According to the agreement, administrative and technical support responsibilities for the .ru domain were to be handed over to RIPN. In 2002, the administrative functions were handed over to CC for TLD RU.
Development of .ru
The ccTLD is developing rapidly under self-regulation. In 1993, an informal union was formed, known as the RU Top-Level Domain Coordination Group (RU TLD CG). The union includes the leading Russian Internet service providers as well as scientific and educational networks entrusted by RIPN with RU domain administration.
In 1998, RIPN and RU TLD CG established a domain registration association.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “.ru” as country code top-level domain for Russia and Transnistria. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as country code top-level domain for Russia and Transnistria. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q36541. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1994, 2005, 1993 and 2002.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “.ru”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow .ru primary sources, .ru archive and country research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “.ru”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “.ru” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.