Russia PIN Code: What It Is and How to Use It in an Address
Russia does not use the term PIN code; the equivalent of an Indian PIN code is the pochtovy indeks, a six-digit postal index such as 190000 for central Saint Petersburg or 101000 for central Moscow. The first three digits point to the city or region and its sorting centre, and the last three identify the individual post office. Whenever an international form asks for a PIN, ZIP or postcode for a Russian address, you enter these six digits.
Customers sending flowers from abroad ask us about this regularly, usually because a checkout form insists on a postcode or because they are copying an address from an old letter. Below we explain how Russian indexes are structured, where to find the right one, how a Russian address is written, and which details matter far more than the index when a courier is carrying a bouquet to someone's door.
How the six digits of a Russian index work
The current system of six-digit indexes was introduced in the Soviet Union in 1971 and is still used by Russian Post. The first three digits identify the region and its main sorting centre: Saint Petersburg addresses start with 19, Moscow city addresses mostly start with 10, 11 or 12, and the surrounding Moscow region uses ranges beginning with 14. Indexes ending in 000 usually belong to a central or main post office of a city.
The last three digits identify the specific post office that serves a group of streets or buildings. A large city therefore has hundreds of indexes, and two neighbouring buildings on different sides of a street can belong to different offices. This is why an index copied from a different address in the same city is often slightly wrong, even though the letter would probably still arrive.
Unlike UK postcodes, a Russian index never contains letters and never pinpoints a single building. Unlike US ZIP codes, it has no extended four-digit part. If a form asks for a ZIP+4 or for letters, simply enter the six digits and leave the rest empty.
Finding the right index for an address
The most reliable source is the person you are writing to: most Russians know their index, and it is printed on utility bills and parcel notices. If you cannot ask, Russian Post's official website lets you search by city, street and building number and returns the index of the office that serves that building. Online maps that cover Russia also show the index in the address card of most buildings.
When you look the index up yourself, search with the full street name and building number, not just the city. Street names in Russian addresses often include a type word such as ulitsa (street), prospekt (avenue), pereulok (lane) or naberezhnaya (embankment), and the same name can exist in several districts. Our guide to Russian postal code lookup walks through three quick ways to check it.
For the overall format with worked examples, see the article on the Russia postcode. The short version: six digits, no spaces, no letters, written as one block.
Bouquets we can deliver
Writing a Russian address correctly
Russian Post asks for addresses to be written from the person to the country: the recipient's full name, then the street, building number and flat number, then the city or settlement, then the region, then the six-digit index, and on international mail the country, RUSSIA, on the last line in capital letters. A building number is often followed by a korpus (block) or stroenie (structure) number, written as k. 2 or str. 1, and flats are marked kv.
Writing in Latin letters is acceptable for international mail, but many customers choose to add the address in Cyrillic as well, since sorting is done by Russian staff. Copy street names exactly as the recipient writes them and avoid translating them into English: Nevsky prospekt should stay Nevsky prospekt, not Neva Avenue. A translated street name is the most common reason an address looks unfamiliar to a Russian courier.
If the address is in a large residential complex, ask the recipient whether the complex has its own name and whether the building number on the house differs from the one in official records. New developments in Saint Petersburg and Moscow often have temporary construction numbers that people still use in daily life.
What a flower courier actually needs
For letters and parcels the index does most of the work. For a flower delivery it matters much less, because the courier drives straight to the building and does not pass through a sorting office. What decides whether the bouquet reaches the door quickly is the complete street address, the entrance number (podyezd), the floor, the flat number and the intercom or gate code, plus the recipient's phone number. The courier calls the recipient about 15 minutes before arrival, so a working phone number is the single most useful detail you can give us.
Russian apartment buildings usually have several entrances, each with its own intercom, and the flat numbers are spread across them. Without the entrance number a courier may spend ten minutes walking round the building. Our article on entry codes and intercoms explains how these systems work and what to ask the recipient in advance.
If the recipient is not at home, we agree a second delivery the same day or leave the flowers with a neighbour or concierge with your consent. For offices, add the company name and floor, and check the reception hours, because many business centres do not let couriers past the front desk without the recipient coming down.
Ordering flowers to a Russian address from abroad
Pyat Tsvetov has worked since 2011 and has three of its own flower shops in Saint Petersburg, on Ilyushina Street, on the Obvodny Canal Embankment and on Srednerogatskaya Street. We deliver flowers across Russia. Delivery within the city costs 500 RUB; for remote districts and suburbs the operator confirms the price when confirming the order, which is another reason to give the full address rather than only an index.
In large cities express delivery takes 1 to 2 hours after the order is confirmed, or you can choose an exact time with a margin of about 30 minutes, a window of 09-12, 12-15, 15-18 or 18-21, or pre-order 1 to 30 days ahead. In Saint Petersburg we deliver around the clock. Delivery is anonymous by default, so add your name to the free card if you want the recipient to know who sent the flowers.
Payment is made online by bank card, SBP or Yandex Pay, and foreign bank cards are accepted through Robokassa. Choose a bouquet in the catalogue, enter the address with entrance, floor, flat and intercom code, and if anything about the address is unclear, call us on 8 (812) 507-67-05 before placing the order. We deliver bouquets across Russia in 1–2 hours.
Frequently asked questions
What is the PIN code of Russia?
Russia has no single PIN code. Every address has its own six-digit postal index; for example, Saint Petersburg indexes start with 19 and Moscow city indexes mostly with 10, 11 or 12.
How many digits is a Russian postal code?
Six digits, with no letters or spaces. The first three identify the region and sorting centre, the last three the local post office.
What is the PIN code of Saint Petersburg?
Saint Petersburg uses indexes from 190000 to 199999, and 190000 is the main post office. Each street and building has its own index within that range, so look up the exact one for the address.
Do I need the index to send flowers in Russia?
It helps, but a flower courier relies mainly on the full street address, entrance, floor, flat, intercom code and the recipient's phone number. Those details matter more than the index for a fast delivery.
Can I write a Russian address in English letters?
Yes, transliteration is accepted. Keep street names in their Russian form rather than translating them, and write RUSSIA on the last line for international mail.
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