Ulitsa or Road? Russian Address Words Explained
Ulitsa (abbreviated ul.) is the Russian word for "street", not "road". A road in Russian is doroga (dor.), and a major road leading out of a city or a highway is shosse (sh.). In an address you will see all three, and translating each one correctly helps a courier find the door.
Customers sending flowers from abroad often bring us an address copied from a message or a map, half in English and half transliterated, and ask whether "road" and "ulitsa" are the same thing. They are not, and the difference matters: a city can have a Moskovskaya ulitsa and a Moskovskoye shosse kilometres apart. Below we go through the street words you will meet in Russian addresses, the abbreviations, and how to write the address so a bouquet arrives at the right building.
Ulitsa, doroga and shosse: three different things
Ulitsa is an ordinary city street lined with buildings, the equivalent of "street" in English. It is by far the most common word in Russian addresses and is shortened to ul. in writing. Ilyushina ulitsa and Srednerogatskaya ulitsa in Saint Petersburg, where two of our shops are, are typical examples: residential streets with apartment blocks and shops on both sides.
Doroga literally means "road" and is used for roads that connect places rather than streets lined with houses, often on the edge of a city or in suburbs. In Saint Petersburg, for instance, there are roads such as Doroga na Turukhtannye ostrova (the road to the Turukhtanny Islands). It is less common in addresses, and buildings along a doroga can be spread out, so the house number and any building name are especially important.
Shosse is a highway or a major road leaving the city in the direction of another town, like Moskovskoye shosse (the Moscow highway) or Pulkovskoye shosse in Saint Petersburg. Inside the city limits a shosse can still have apartment blocks and offices, but it is long and busy, so house numbers can run into the hundreds. If someone writes "Moscow Road" in English, check whether they mean Moskovskaya ulitsa, Moskovsky prospekt or Moskovskoye shosse: all three exist in many cities.
Other street words you will meet
Prospekt (pr. or pr-t) is a wide, long avenue, usually a main artery of the city. Pereulok (per.) is a lane or side street, typically short and quiet. Bulvar (bul. or b-r) is a boulevard with a strip of trees or a park down the middle. Ploshchad (pl.) is a square, and proezd (pr-d) is a passage or minor street connecting two larger ones, which is easy to confuse with prospekt when both are shortened to pr.
Naberezhnaya (nab.) means embankment and is everywhere in Saint Petersburg, a city of rivers and canals. Our shop on Obvodny Canal Embankment is a naberezhnaya address. Saint Petersburg also has liniya, the numbered "lines" of Vasilyevsky Island, where each side of a street has its own line number, so 4-ya liniya and 5-ya liniya are the two sides of the same street. Alleya (alley), tupik (dead end) and trakt (old long-distance road) appear more rarely.
Our articles on ulitsa meaning and on ulitsa, prospekt and naberezhnaya in Russian addresses go deeper into individual words and their grammar.
Bouquets we can deliver
How word order works in a Russian address
Russian street names are usually adjectives or names in the genitive case, and the street word can come before or after them. Ulitsa Ilyushina means "Ilyushin Street" (the street of Ilyushin), while Srednerogatskaya ulitsa is an adjective form, "Srednerogatskaya Street". Both orders are correct and refer to the same kind of place, so do not worry if you see ul. Ilyushina in one message and Ilyushina ul. in another.
A full Russian address is written from large to small: city, street, house, then flat. After the street name you will see dom (d., house or building number), korpus (k. or korp., a separate block within the same number), stroenie (str., structure) and, in Saint Petersburg, litera (lit., a letter assigned to a building). Then comes kvartira (kv.), the flat number. A typical line looks like ul. Ilyushina, d. 10, k. 2, kv. 45.
Couriers also need what is not in the postal address: the podyezd (entrance number), the etazh (floor) and the domofon (intercom code). Large Russian apartment blocks can have ten or more entrances, and the flat number alone does not show which one to use.
Writing an address when you send flowers
The most reliable address is the one the recipient writes themselves, ideally in Russian letters, exactly as it appears on their mail. If you only have a transliterated version, keep the Russian street word (ulitsa, shosse, prospekt) instead of translating it to "road" or "avenue", because the translation can point to a different street with a similar name.
Always add the recipient's phone number. The courier calls about 15 minutes before arrival, which solves most small address problems, such as an entrance hidden in a courtyard or a building with several korpus blocks. If the recipient is not there, we agree a second delivery the same day or, with your consent, leave the flowers with a neighbour or concierge.
For addresses on a shosse or a doroga outside the centre, keep in mind that city delivery costs 500 RUB, while for suburbs and remote districts the operator confirms the price when confirming the order. If an address is unclear, call us on 8 (812) 507-67-05 before you pay and we will check it with you.
Sending flowers to a Russian address from abroad
Once the address is sorted, the order itself is short. Choose a bouquet in the bouquets catalogue, enter the address, the recipient's phone and your card text, and pay online by bank card, SBP or Yandex Pay. Foreign bank cards are accepted via Robokassa, and a card with your text is free.
In large cities express delivery takes 1-2 hours after the order is confirmed; you can also choose an exact time within plus or minus 30 minutes, a time window (09-12, 12-15, 15-18 or 18-21), or pre-order 1-30 days ahead. In Saint Petersburg delivery runs around the clock. All conditions are on the delivery and payment page.
Pyat Tsvetov has delivered flowers since 2011 and has three of its own shops in Saint Petersburg, so our couriers know the city's ulitsy, prospekty, naberezhnye and Vasilyevsky Island lines well. Delivery is anonymous by default, so sign the card if you want the recipient to know who sent it.
Frequently asked questions
Does ulitsa mean road?
No. Ulitsa means street. A road is doroga, and a highway or major road out of town is shosse.
What does ul. mean in a Russian address?
Ul. is the abbreviation of ulitsa, street. It usually comes before the street name, as in ul. Ilyushina.
What is the difference between prospekt and shosse?
A prospekt is a wide city avenue, while a shosse is a highway or main road leading out of the city towards another town. Both can have residential buildings.
What do d., k. and kv. mean?
D. is dom, the house or building number; k. is korpus, a block within it; kv. is kvartira, the flat number.
Should I translate the street name when ordering flowers to Russia?
Better not. Keep the Russian street word and name as the recipient writes them, and add their phone number so the courier can call.
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