Cities and towns of Russia

Petrozavodsk

Petrozavodsk (Петрозаводск), capital of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, a port on Lake Onega founded in 1703 by Peter the Great as an iron and cannon factory; town from 1777, occupied by Finland 1941–1944, population about 236,000.

Podolsk

Podolsk (Подольск), city and city okrug center in Moscow Oblast, Russia, 43 km from Moscow on the Pakhra River; founded as village Podol, made a city by Catherine II in 1781; major industrial and atomic-machinery center.

Prokopyevsk

Prokopyevsk (Прокопьевск), a coal-mining city in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, on the Aba River; third city of the oblast, city since 1931, coking-coal center of Kuzbass, Order of the Red Banner of Labour 1981.

Pskov

Pskov (Псков), ancient Russian city and administrative center of Pskov Oblast on the Velikaya River; first recorded in 903, a medieval veche republic and fortress, home of the Pskov School of Architecture inscribed by UNESCO in 2019.

Pyatigorsk

Pyatigorsk (Пятигорск), resort city in Stavropol Krai, Russia; largest city of the Caucasian Mineral Waters with over 40 mineral springs, founded 1780, named 1830 after Mount Beshtau, Lermontov's duel site, and center of the North Caucasus Federal District since 2010.

Rostov-on-Don (Ростов-на-Дону)

Rostov-on-Don (Ростов-на-Дону), southern Russian city on the Don River, administrative center of Rostov Oblast and Southern Federal District capital; founded 1749 as the Temernik customs house, population about 1.14 million, major river-sea port and transport hub.

Rubtsovsk

Rubtsovsk (Рубцовск), city in Altai Krai, Russia, on the Alei River; founded 1886 by Mikhail Rubtsov, city since 1927, third-largest krai city (121,698 in 2025), industrial and rail hub.

Ryazan

Ryazan (Рязань), city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia, on the Trubezh near the Oka, about 196 km southeast of Moscow; about 519,315 residents (2026), formerly Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky, renamed 1778.

Rybinsk

Rybinsk (Рыбинск), formerly Shcherbakov and Andropov, is a city in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, on the Volga at the Rybinsk Reservoir; first mentioned in 1071, a city since 1777, population about 169,600, an engine-building and shipbuilding center.

Saint Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)

Saint Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург), Russia's second city on the Neva delta, founded 1703 by Peter the Great; imperial capital, siege survivor, flood-dammed metropolis of 5.65 million producing ~7.5% of Russian GDP.

Salavat

Salavat (Салават), city in Bashkortostan, Russia, on the Belaya River; founded 1948 around petrochemical Combine No. 18, city since 1954, named after hero Salavat Yulayev; about 146,600 residents, third largest in the republic.

Salekhard (Салехард)

Salekhard (Салехард), formerly Obdorsk, is the capital of Russia's Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, founded in 1595 and the only city directly on the Arctic Circle, on the Ob River with subarctic Dfc climate and ferry-only river crossing.

Samara (Самара)

Samara (Самара), called Kuybyshev from 1935 to 1991, is a major city and industrial hub on the Volga in southeastern Russia and the administrative center of Samara Oblast.

Saransk

Saransk (Саранск) is the capital of the Republic of Mordovia, Russia, founded in 1641 as a frontier fortress on the Atemar abatis line; about 310,900 residents in 2024, 642 km east of Moscow, and a 2018 FIFA World Cup host city.

Saratov

Saratov (Саратов), city on the Volga River and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia; founded 1590 as a fortress, a milling and trading hub by 1900, home of Saratov State University (1909) and Russia's first provincial conservatory (1912).

Shlisselburg (Шлиссельбург)

Shlisselburg (Шлиссельбург), formerly Oreshek and Nöteborg, is a town in Leningrad Oblast at the Neva's source from Lake Ladoga, founded 1323, site of the Treaty of Nöteborg, Peter the Great's 1702 reconquest, a tsarist political prison, and a WWII fortress defense.

Simferopol

Simferopol (Симферополь; Crimean Tatar Aqmescit) is the capital city of Crimea on the Salhyr River, founded under its Greek name in 1784 beside the Tatar Ak-Mechet; about 340,000 people, Crimea's transport hub, annexed by Russia in 2014.

Smolensk (Смоленск)

Smolensk (Смоленск), a Hero City in western Russia on the Dnieper, administrative center of Smolensk Oblast; area 166.15 km², population about 320,000, with a 1595–1602 fortress wall and a history of Lithuanian, Polish, and Russian rule.

Sochi (Сочи)

Sochi (Сочи) is Russia's largest Black Sea resort city in Krasnodar Krai, subtropical on the coast with snowy Caucasus slopes at Krasnaya Polyana, and host of the record-cost 2014 Winter Olympics.

Sortavala (Сортавала)

Sortavala (Сортавала), called Serdobol before the 19th century, is a town of about 19,000 on Lake Ladoga in Karelia, Russia, near the Finnish border, known for its preserved Finnish architecture.

Stary Oskol

Stary Oskol (Старый Оскол), city in Belgorod Oblast, Russia; founded 1593 as the Oskol fortress. Center of Kursk Magnetic Anomaly iron ore mining and metallurgy; population 215,937 (2025).

Stavropol

Stavropol (Ставрополь), administrative center of Stavropol Krai, Russia; founded 1777 as a fortress of the Azov-Mozdok line, city status 1785, briefly Voroshilovsk 1935-1943; population about 458,000 in 2022. Distinct from Stavropol-on-the-Volga (Togliatti).