A time zone is a certain territory, throughout which the same time regime operates. Russia is a large country, so there are several time zones on its territory at the same time.
Time zones in Russia, as in most countries of the world, are set in relation to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Number of time zones
In recent years, the interim regimes in Russia have undergone significant reformation. So, the last time changes in this area occurred in 2011, when Federal Law No. 107-FZ of June 3, 2011 "On the Calculation of Time" was adopted. He introduced the concept of the so-called time zones as territories, over the entire area of which a single time operates. At the same time, the composition of these zones was determined by an additional regulatory legal act - Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 725 of August 31, 2011 "On the composition of the territories forming each time zone, and the procedure for calculating time in time zones, as well as on recognizing as invalid some resolutions Government of the Russian Federation ".
This decree determined that from the moment of its adoption, 9 time zones will operate on the territory of the country. At the same time, in the specified normative legal act, the time regime in each of them is established in relation to Moscow time. In turn, paragraph 1 of this decree determines that Moscow time is the universal coordinated time (UTC) plus 4 hours.
Time Zones Composition
Time zones in Russia, as well as throughout the world, are located as the current time increases from west to east. Accordingly, the earliest time zone in Russia is the Kaliningrad region, which forms a separate time zone - Moscow time minus 1 hour (UTC + 3).
The second time zone in Russia is Moscow time (UTC + 4), which includes Moscow, St. Petersburg and nearby cities, which are commonly called the European part of Russia. The third time zone is Moscow time plus 2 hours (UTC + 6): these are the territories of the Urals and northern regions, including the Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions, the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug and neighboring subjects of the Federation. The fourth time zone is Moscow time plus 3 hours (UTC + 7): it includes the regions of Siberia, including Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Omsk, Tomsk and other regions. The fifth time zone is Moscow time plus 4 hours (UTC + 8): this is Eastern Siberia - the Republic of Tyva, the Republic of Khakassia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The sixth time zone - Moscow time plus 5 hours (UTC + 9), includes only two regions - the Republic of Buryatia and the Irkutsk region.
Then time zones are gradually shifting towards the Far East. So, the seventh time zone (Moscow time plus 6 hours, UTC + 10) includes a part of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Trans-Baikal Territory and the Amur Region. The eighth time zone (Moscow time plus 7 hours, UTC + 11) is formed by another part of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Jewish Autonomous Region. Finally, the ninth, most eastern time zone (Moscow time plus 8 hours, UTC + 12) includes the rest of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Kamchatka Krai, Magadan and Sakhalin regions, as well as the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
