<s>
.ru	B-General_Concept
is	O
the	O
Latin	O
alphabet	O
Internet	B-Application
country	I-Application
code	I-Application
top-level	O
domain	O
(	O
ccTLD	B-Application
)	O
for	O
Russia	O
introduced	O
on	O
7	O
April	O
1994	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Russian	O
alphabet	O
internationalized	B-General_Concept
country	I-General_Concept
code	I-General_Concept
is	O
.рф	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Control	O
of	O
.ru	B-General_Concept
is	O
assigned	O
to	O
the	O
Coordination	B-Protocol
Center	I-Protocol
for	I-Protocol
TLD	I-Protocol
RU	I-Protocol
(	O
CC	O
for	O
TLD	O
RU	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
current	O
official	O
registry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
1	O
January	O
2005	O
,	O
the	O
former	O
registry	O
,	O
the	O
Russian	O
Institute	O
for	O
Public	O
Networks	O
(	O
RIPN	O
)	O
,	O
stopped	O
new	O
registrations	O
directly	O
under	O
.ru	B-General_Concept
,	O
but	O
still	O
carried	O
out	O
registry	O
operations	O
for	O
domain	O
names	O
under	O
the	O
second-level	B-Protocol
domains	I-Protocol
.com.ru	O
,	O
.net.ru	O
,	O
.org.ru	O
and	O
.pp.ru	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
RELCOM	O
also	O
proposes	O
third-level	O
registrations	O
beneath	O
various	O
second-level	B-Protocol
domains	I-Protocol
such	O
as	O
.msk.ru	O
(	O
Moscow	O
)	O
,	O
while	O
Macomnet	O
Telcom	O
proposes	O
third-level	O
registrations	O
beneath	O
.int.ru	O
simultaneously	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
creation	O
of	O
.ru	B-General_Concept
in	O
April	O
1994	O
was	O
preceded	O
by	O
a	O
historical	O
agreement	O
in	O
1993	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
The	O
order	O
of	O
RU	O
top-level	O
domain	O
administration	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
the	O
agreement	O
,	O
administrative	O
and	O
technical	O
support	O
responsibilities	O
for	O
the	O
.ru	B-General_Concept
domain	O
were	O
to	O
be	O
handed	O
over	O
to	O
RIPN	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ccTLD	B-Application
is	O
developing	O
rapidly	O
under	O
self-regulation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Subsequently	O
,	O
in	O
2000	O
,	O
a	O
new	O
system	O
of	O
domain	O
name	O
registration	O
for	O
.ru	B-General_Concept
was	O
introduced	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
a	O
distributed	O
system	O
of	O
second-level	B-Protocol
domain	I-Protocol
name	O
registrations	O
in	O
.ru	B-General_Concept
,	O
through	O
accredited	O
registrars	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
accredited	O
registrars	B-Application
provide	O
domain	O
name	O
registration	O
and	O
support	O
services	O
on	O
a	O
"	O
first	O
come	O
,	O
first	O
served	O
"	O
basis	O
to	O
end-users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RIPN	O
became	O
one	O
of	O
four	O
co-founders	O
of	O
CC	O
for	O
TLD	O
RU	O
,	O
but	O
continued	O
to	O
support	O
centralized	O
technical	O
aspects	O
of	O
the	O
operation	O
of	O
.ru	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
CC	O
for	O
TLD	O
RU	O
maintains	O
domain	O
name	O
registration	O
rules	O
for	O
.ru	B-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
registrar	O
accreditation	O
procedure	O
,	O
and	O
promotes	O
perspective	O
projects	O
that	O
involve	O
the	O
growth	O
of	O
.ru	B-General_Concept
,	O
whereas	O
RIPN	O
secures	O
.ru	B-General_Concept
technical	O
base	O
functions	O
and	O
supports	O
DNS	B-Application
for	O
the	O
.ru	B-General_Concept
DNS	B-Protocol
zone	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
direct	O
registration	O
of	O
second-level	B-Protocol
domains	I-Protocol
is	O
widespread	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
second-level	B-Protocol
domains	I-Protocol
designated	O
for	O
third-level	O
domain	O
name	O
registrations	O
depending	O
on	O
organizational	O
type	O
and	O
geographic	O
location	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
federal	O
subjects	O
have	O
multiple	O
second-level	B-Protocol
domains	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
others	O
(	O
not	O
listed	O
below	O
)	O
have	O
none	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
were	O
created	O
before	O
rules	O
were	O
established	O
for	O
geographic	O
second-level	B-Protocol
domain	I-Protocol
names	O
in	O
.ru	B-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
have	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
grandfathered	O
in	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
the	O
.test.ru	O
second-level	B-Protocol
domain	I-Protocol
is	O
reserved	O
for	O
use	O
in	O
examples	O
in	O
documentation	O
.	O
</s>
