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 letterDefault mappingNote
REuropean 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]INVALIDBeacons and special events eg RB110RAEM
RE[0-9]
Unknown use
RH[0-9]  Unknown use 
RI1AAntarctica
RI1FFranz Josef Land
RI1MMalyj Vysotskij IslandEnds 2012-02-16, DXCC deletion date 2012-02-17
RP[0-9][0-9] Pobeda/Victory stations 
RRSATELLITE, INTERNET OR REPEATER
Repeaters
RSSATELLITE, INTERNET OR REPEATER
RS#S and RS##S - satellites
RS#ISS and RS##ISS - space expeditions
Also special events eg 
RS80KEDR
UEuropean Russia 
See note on U5 legacy callsigns below
U2[FK]Kaliningrad
U[890]Asiatic Russia
U8[FGX]European Russia
U[A-I]2Kaliningrad
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