Author: Alan, 5B4AHJ
The Russian Callsign system underwent a major revision in 2010. The changes were effective from 2010-01-21.
Here is the announcement letter from the Russian licensing authority (note the date), kindly provided by UA1AKE:
The new system is documented in several places. Here one useful sites:
New Russian Callsign Prefix System
Club Log Prefix Mapping from 2010-01-21
The following table lists all the Russian prefix mappings from 2010-01-10.
Longer prefixes take precedence over shorter prefixes. Thus, although the R prefix definition is specified as mapping to European Russia, R8 calls, having a longer prefix definition, map to Asiatic Russia, etc. Note that many of these mappings also apply prior to 2010-01-21.
| Prefix & first suffix letter | Default mapping | Note |
| R | European Russia | |
| R2[FK] | Kaliningrad | |
| R[890] | Asiatic Russia | |
| R[89][FGX] | European Russia | |
| R[ACDFG,J-P,Q,T-Z]2[FK] | Kaliningrad | |
| R[ACDFG,J-P,Q,T-Z][890] | Asiatic Russia | |
| R[ACDFG,J-P,Q,T-Z][89][FGX] | European Russia | |
| RB[0-9] | INVALID | Beacons and special events eg RB110RAEM |
| RE[0-9] | Unknown use | |
| RH[0-9] | Unknown use | |
| RI1A | Antarctica | |
| RI1F | Franz Josef Land | |
| RI1M | Malyj Vysotskij Island | Ends 2012-02-16, DXCC deletion date 2012-02-17 |
| RP[0-9][0-9] | Pobeda/Victory stations | |
| RR | SATELLITE, INTERNET OR REPEATER | Repeaters |
| RS | SATELLITE, INTERNET OR REPEATER | RS#S and RS##S - satellites eg RS20S, RS20SAM, RS#ISS and RS##ISS - space expeditions Also special events eg RS80KEDR, RS110RAEM, and RS3A (contest call of RA3CW). |
| U | European Russia | See note on U5 legacy callsigns below |
| U2[FK] | Kaliningrad | |
| U[890] | Asiatic Russia | |
| U8[FGX] | European Russia | |
| U[A-I]2 | Kaliningrad | |
| U[A-I][890] | Asiatic Russia | |
| U[A-I][89][FGX] | European Russia |
Ukraine Legacy callsigns
Although Ukraine callsigns are not covered by the new system,
some legacy Ukraine calls still exist with the U5 prefix, which is now used for European Russia.
However, as of late January, 2012, RA3AUU advises that no U5 callsigns had yet been issued for Russian stations.
Known Ukrainian U5 legacy callsigns are listed below. This may not be a complete list. Until the first Russian U5 callsign is issued, Club Log maps these calls to Ukraine by the U5 prefix, although, strictly speaking, that has been a Russian prefix since 2010-01-21.
| U5ARTEK |
| U5ED |
| U5EX |
| U5IK |
| U5MZ |
| U5NA |
| U5RC |
| U5RK |
| U5UC |
| U5VS |
| U5WK |