The updated Rules, effective since August 11, 2025, were approved by the General Meeting of Founders of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ on July 2, 2025 (Minutes No. 35 of July 2, 2025).
In the Russian national domain zone .РФ, it is now possible to register internet addresses using the characters of 17 official languages of the republics of the Russian Federation.
This update greatly expands opportunities for users, enabling the creation of domain names that better reflect the unique writing systems and pronunciation of Russia’s many languages. Website names can now include letters from Abaza, Adyghe, Altai, Bashkir, Buryat, Ingush, Kabardino-Circassian, Kalmyk, Komi, Mari, Tatar, Tuvan, Udmurt, Khakass, Chechen, Chuvash, and Yakut. The introduction of these characters supports the preservation and promotion of linguistic diversity in the digital space.
Exactly one month ago, on July 11, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Executive Order No. 474 On Approval of the Fundamentals of the State Language Policy of the Russian Federation. The executive order sets out goals to preserve, support, and develop the languages of the peoples of Russia – particularly those of indigenous communities – while protecting linguistic diversity as a national treasure and part of the country’s historical and cultural heritage. It places special emphasis on promoting the Russian language in the digital sphere, ensuring compliance with language standards online, popularizing domestic software with Russian-language interfaces, and developing alphabets and additional Cyrillic-based characters for the languages of Russia’s peoples.
“Ensuring linguistic diversity is one of the key tasks for everyone working to expand and develop the internet space today, as it allows more and more users to access the network,” said Andrey Vorobyev, Director of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ.“In Russia, this issue receives significant attention. The introduction of 25 new characters marks another step in advancing the .РФ domain and increasing its popularity among Russian users. The ability to register website names in native languages reinforces the principles of multilingualism and cultural diversity in the Russian segment of the internet.”
The Technical Center of Internet (TCI) carried out the technical implementation of the update. Commenting on the expanded functionality, Alexey Rogdev, General Director of TCI, said:
“This is an important step towards strengthening digital sovereignty and preserving the country’s linguistic and cultural heritage. Users can now create domain names that more naturally and accurately reflect their native languages. This will make the internet more accessible for Russia’s multinational population and promote their integration into the global digital space.”
This innovation is an important step in developing the digital environment for the official languages of Russia’s regions. It strengthens the presence of regional languages online, giving their speakers the ability to use familiar characters when naming and identifying their resources. In doing so, it supports both linguistic diversity and the digital inclusivity of the population.
Domain names can be registered already now, using the characters of 17 state languages of the republics of the Russian Federation. Accredited registrars took an active part in testing the new symbols and are fully ready to offer this service. Andrey Kuzmichev, Head of the Runity group, noted:
“The largest registrars – Reg.ru and Rucenter – are technically fully prepared to support this innovation, and from day one will offer domains featuring national language characters to their clients. This is an important step in advancing digital diversity in Russia.”
The updated Appendix to the Rules, titled “List of characters allowed in a domain name in the .РФ domain”, now specifies an expanded set of Cyrillic characters permitted for registration.
In 2024, the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ conducted a study on the demand for adding characters from the languages of Russia’s peoples to the .РФ zone. The findings showed that national languages are widely used online; however, speakers of some languages still face limitations due to the absence of certain additional Cyrillic letters or symbols.
