Russia license plate (RUS) in 2026 ✅

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Current Russian license plate system

Russian car license plates (Регистрационные знаки транспортных средств) officially began to be used on January 1, 1994, although they had already been in circulation for several months before that date. Russia was previously part of the Soviet Union, using its own Soviet license plates. Current Russian vehicle registration plates measure 520x112 millimeters and display black characters on a white background, with a configuration such as A000AA/00, where the last two (or three) numbers represent the administrative division (+). You can check the special types of Russian license plates further below. In Russia, it is considered an offense to drive with a license plate covered by any element, whether snow or any kind of paper.

Below this numeric combination, the international country code RUS and the national flag are displayed. At the beginning, this flag was not shown, among other reasons due to the difficulty of inserting it into the plate. Today, it is difficult to see vehicles without it, these usually being high-end cars. The characters used are Cyrillic, which are very similar to Latin ones: A, B, E, K, M, H, O, P, C, T, У, X.

Since January 1, 2019 [1], Russia has introduced reduced-format license plates for vehicles with limited plate space, mainly used on vehicles imported from Japan or the United States, with dimensions of 290x170 millimeters. On the same date, smaller license plates were also introduced for motorcycles, measuring 190x145 millimeters.

Conflict and Russian invasion of Ukraine and license plate details

Since 2014, Ukraine has been in conflict with Russia on its own territory. Initially, this concerned the Crimea region from 2014 onwards. Later, at the end of February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine under the pretext of providing assistance to the so-called people’s republics of Luhansk and Donetsk. The invasion extended across eastern and southern Ukrainian regions, more specifically Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv. Since February 2022, Russia has faced international sanctions, which also had personal repercussions when Russian residents traveled abroad, especially to Europe and the European Union. As occurred with Belarus, many owners of vehicles with Russian license plates decided to cover the Russian flag and/or the RUS code on their plates using stickers or correction tape. Another practice has been the manufacture of a new plate with all characters in a single line, without respecting the official Russian design. In these cases, these vehicles usually do not display the oval with the international RUS code on the rear, despite it being mandatory.

In August 2022, it was announced that the Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia would use the codes 184 and 185 respectively. This measure was taken despite both territories still being part of Ukraine, although under Russian occupation for several months prior. In October 2022, the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk stopped using the DPR and LPR systems and began using the Russian codes 80 and 81. Below you can see an example of the license plates used in Luhansk (with BB-LPR-81 codes).

Russian license plates with code 82

Until June 2014, regional code 82 was used exclusively to identify vehicles from the Koryak Autonomous Okrug. However, due to the low number of registrations in that district and its merger with Kamchatka in June 2007, it was decided that the code could be reused to identify vehicles from the Republic of Crimea registered as Russian under Russian administration. [1]

Special Russian license plates currently in use

As in most countries around the world, Russia has several types of special license plates in use. In general, the background color can identify the type of vehicle. The configuration also varies for certain special plates. Below we show in detail all types of special license plates currently used in Russia. Mopeds use their own system since 2019 [2]. Russian agricultural vehicles use the configuration AAAA00/00.

Types of current Russian special license plates

Current Russian trailer license plate

Current Russian trailer license plates use the AA0000/00 format. In addition, since 2008 it has been common for trailers to display the license plate number in large characters on the rear of the trailer or semi-trailer for easier identification. Among other reasons, this allows the trailer to be identified even if the license plate is dirty during winter months.

Russian temporary or provisional transit license plates

Russian temporary transit license plates since 2009 are similar to the standard system and follow the European format, with a configuration of two letters, three numbers, and one letter (AA000A). The space reserved for the regional code must have a yellow background. These plates offer a high level of protection, as they include a holographic security mark in the upper left corner. The plate background is paper-based, with multiple protective layers. These plates are usually used on vehicles exported from Russia and are valid for a maximum of 10 days. Previously, these plates were affixed to the rear window of the vehicle.

Military and police license plates of the Russian Federation in detail

Russian military vehicle license plates use white characters and borders on a black background, where the last two numbers identify the military command. For example: 12-Federal Customs Service, 45-Navy, 34-Air Force, 91-Baltic Fleet in Kaliningrad. These plates do not use a regional code. Police vehicles use license plates with white characters on a blue background and, as with military plates, without the Russian flag in the lower right corner.

Russian Diplomatic Corps license plates

Russian Diplomatic Corps license plates have the same size as standard plates, but with white characters on a red background. They use a 000A00/00 configuration, where the last two numbers identify the region where the embassy or consulate is located. The first three numbers identify the state or organization, followed by one or two letters that can be CD for Diplomatic Corps, D for diplomatic and consular staff, and T for Technical Assistance Staff (See the full list of diplomatic codes).

Photos of regional codes by province

Below we show all the regional codes currently used in Russia. These codes are displayed on the right side of the Russian car license plate and may consist of two or three digits.

Diplomatic corps codes on Russian license plates

You can find more information about Russian Diplomatic Corps license plates above. Russian diplomatic license plates use white characters on a distinctive red background. The first block of numbers identifies the country or organization, which you can find in the table below. The last two numbers identify the region where the embassy or consulate is located.

Matriculasdelmundo. License plates of Russia. Reviewed and updated information. Matriculasdelmundo.com. Retrieved on 08/01/2026 from https://matriculasdelmundo.com/en/russia.html.

License plates from other states and territories that you may be interested in:

Map of the Russia license plates

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Official Sources on License Plates of Russia

All the information about the license plates of cars and motorcycles in Russia and vehicle plates shown here has been extracted from official state archives (such as the BOE and the DGT in Spain), from personal sightings, by contacting automobile clubs from other countries, or through media or files referenced in the text. This information on car and motorcycle plates in Russia has been collected since 2009, so we hope you find the information you're looking for about Russia license plates.

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Please, check matriculasdelmundo.com in Spanish here for all the updated information about license plates of Russia.