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Moscow Time
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<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>Until the <a href="/facts/October_Revolution/5q9GlMv9">October Revolution</a>, the official time in Moscow corresponded to GMT+02:30:17 (according to the longitude of the Astronomical Observatory of <a href="/facts/Moscow_State_University/xHPG4oau">Moscow State University</a>). In 1919 the <a href="/facts/Vladimir_Lenin%2527s_Cabinet/CUxwRHNT">Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR</a> introduced the system of time zones in the country, and Moscow was assigned to the second administrative time zone, equal to GMT+02:00. Other zones east of the 37.5° meridian to <a href="/facts/Arkhangelsk/27feTUm7">Arkhangelsk</a>, <a href="/facts/Vologda/BLWTnzVe">Vologda</a>, <a href="/facts/Yaroslavl/H6WwvMqp">Yaroslavl</a>, <a href="/facts/Kostroma/BgP3qFyo">Kostroma</a>, <a href="/facts/Ivanovo/X1y10YR8">Ivanovo</a>, <a href="/facts/Vladimir%2c_Russia/W1bQAU4u">Vladimir</a>, <a href="/facts/Ryazan/AXtFvh25">Ryazan</a>, <a href="/facts/Tula%2c_Russia/LTQy5sTT">Tula</a>, <a href="/facts/Lipetsk/m6czGqHS">Lipetsk</a>, <a href="/facts/Voronezh/QUmUlPSI">Voronezh</a> and <a href="/facts/Rostov-on-Don/CqHJash1">Rostov-on-Don</a> were also included in the second belt. </p><p>In accordance with the 16 June 1930 Decree of the <a href="/facts/Sovnarkom/Q8PRdFB6">Council of People's Commissars</a>, the <a href="/facts/Decree_Time/W8k9k3yk">Decree Time</a> was introduced by adding one hour to the time in each time zone of the USSR, so that Moscow Time became three hours ahead of <a href="/facts/Universal_Time/l1FIFGKn">Universal Time</a>. </p><p>Until 2011, during the winter, between the last Sunday of October and the last Sunday of March, <i>Moscow Standard Time (MSK, МСК)</i> was three hours ahead of UTC, or UTC+03:00. In the summer, Moscow Time shifted forward an additional hour ahead of Moscow Standard Time to become <i>Moscow Summer Time (MSD)</i>, making it UTC+04:00. </p><p>In 2011, the Russian government proclaimed that <a href="/facts/Daylight_saving_time/bEWvB1Rt">daylight saving time</a> would be observed all year round, thus effectively displacing <a href="/facts/Standard_time/3dKMYnjM">standard time</a> — claiming health concerns attributed to the annual shift to-and-fro DST.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> On 27 March 2011, Muscovites set their clocks forward for a final time, effectively observing MSD, or UTC+04:00, permanently. </p><p>On 29 March 2014, after the <a href="/facts/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation/8r8zGRyf">annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation</a>, the <a href="/facts/Republic_of_Crimea_(Russia)/ImNh7YXf">Republic of Crimea</a> and the city of <a href="/facts/Sevastopol/AChvxHLE">Sevastopol</a> — two <a href="/facts/Federal_subjects_of_Russia/f2oIKgbo">federal subjects established by Russia</a> on the <a href="/facts/Crimean_Peninsula/GkM1qNVC">Crimean Peninsula</a> — switched their time to MSK on 30 March 2014 (from UTC+02:00 with DST to UTC+04:00 with permanent DST). </p><p>On 1 July 2014, the State Duma passed a bill partially repealing the 2011 change, removing permanent DST and putting Moscow Time from 26 October 2014 on permanent UTC+03:00 and thus back to standard time. </p> <h2 id="usage">Usage</h2> <p>Most of the European part of Russia (west of the <a href="/facts/Ural_Mountains/gzNoPkt6">Ural Mountains</a>) uses Moscow Time. <a href="/facts/Kaliningrad_Oblast/zN9PIRFb">Kaliningrad Oblast</a> uses <a href="/facts/Kaliningrad_Time/h589R9T6">Kaliningrad Time</a> (UTC+02:00). <a href="/facts/Samara_Oblast/IyQ8pEUJ">Samara Oblast</a> and <a href="/facts/Udmurtia/Llgh73Np">Udmurtia</a> use <a href="/facts/Samara_time/Uu0MJsdU">Samara time</a> (UTC+04:00) and <a href="/facts/Perm_Krai/UfvKrJgT">Perm Krai</a>, <a href="/facts/Bashkortostan/3FrBVIMP">Bashkortostan</a> and <a href="/facts/Orenburg_Oblast/DNBAya6V">Orenburg Oblast</a> use <a href="/facts/Yekaterinburg_time/rb6TLk19">Yekaterinburg time</a> (UTC+05:00). Since 2014, Moscow Time has been observed in <a href="/facts/Crimea/GkM1qNVC">Crimea</a> after it was <a href="/facts/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation/8r8zGRyf">annexed</a> and in <a href="/facts/Russian-occupied_territories_of_Ukraine/VEVwzA5o">Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine</a>, including after their <a href="/facts/Russian_annexation_of_Donetsk%2c_Kherson%2c_Luhansk_and_Zaporizhzhia_oblasts/oRvCyWz9">declared annexation</a> in 2022.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <h3>Past usage</h3> <p>Moscow Time was also formerly used in European parts of the then-USSR: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Estonia/PVjB16TI">Estonia</a>, in 1940–1941 and 1944-1989</li> <li><a href="/facts/Latvia/y2PSa8lx">Latvia</a>, in 1940–1941 and 1944-1989</li> <li><a href="/facts/Lithuania/dApVjLWW">Lithuania</a>, in 1940–1941 and 1944-1989</li> <li><a href="/facts/Kaliningrad_Oblast/zN9PIRFb">Kaliningrad Oblast</a> (Russia), in 1946–1989</li> <li><a href="/facts/Moldova/qGBNGewt">Moldova</a>, in 1944-1990</li> <li><a href="/facts/Ukraine/Qof0uqAj">Ukraine</a>, in 1930–1941 and 1943-1990</li> <li><a href="/facts/Samara_Oblast/IyQ8pEUJ">Samara Oblast</a> (Russia), in 1989–1991 and again from 2010–2011</li> <li><a href="/facts/Belarus/vweHwgob">Belarus</a>, in 1930–1941, 1944-1991 and again from 2014</li> <li><a href="/facts/Crimea/GkM1qNVC">Crimea</a>, in 1930–1941, 1944-1990, 1994-1997 and again from 2014</li></ul> <p>Moscow Summer Time (UTC+04:00) was first applied in 1981 and was used: </p> <ul><li>until 1989 in Estonia, Kaliningrad Oblast, Latvia and Lithuania</li> <li>until 1990 in Moldova and Ukraine</li> <li>until 1991 in Belarus</li> <li>between 1989 and 1991 and in 2010 in Samara Oblast.</li></ul> <p>In 1922–1930 and 1991–1992, Moscow observed Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00). Daylight saving time (UTC+03:00) was observed in the summer of 1991, and the city and region reverted to UTC+03:00 by the summer of 1992. </p><p>The time in Moscow has been as follows (the following list of DST usage may not be accurate):<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p> <table><tbody><tr><td>From 1 January 1880</td><td><a href="/facts/UTC%252B02%3a30/4K7QHQr4">UTC+02:30:17</a></td></tr><tr><td>From 3 July 1916</td><td><a href="/facts/UTC%252B02%3a30/4K7QHQr4">UTC+02:31:19</a></td></tr><tr><td>From 1 July 1917</td><td><a href="/facts/UTC%252B02%3a30/4K7QHQr4">UTC+02:31:19</a> with DST</td></tr><tr><td>From 1 July 1919</td><td><a href="/facts/UTC%252B03%3a00/edqscrXm">UTC+03:00</a> with DST</td></tr><tr><td>From 16 August 1919</td><td><a href="/facts/UTC%252B03%3a00/edqscrXm">UTC+03:00</a></td></tr><tr><td>From 14 February 1921</td><td><a href="/facts/UTC%252B03%3a00/edqscrXm">UTC+03:00</a> with DST</td></tr><tr><td>From 1 October 1921</td><td><a href="/facts/UTC%252B03%3a00/edqscrXm">UTC+03:00</a></td></tr><tr><td>From 1 October 1922</td><td><a href="/facts/UTC%252B02%3a00/eNUq15E8">UTC+02:00</a> (<a href="/facts/Eastern_European_Time/0x0r1oyC">EET</a>)</td></tr><tr><td>From 21 June 1930</td><td><a href="/facts/UTC%252B03%3a00/edqscrXm">UTC+03:00</a></td></tr><tr><td>From 1 April 1981</td><td><a href="/facts/UTC%252B03%3a00/edqscrXm">UTC+03:00</a> with DST</td></tr><tr><td>From 31 March 1991</td><td><a href="/facts/UTC%252B02%3a00/eNUq15E8">UTC+02:00</a> (<a href="/facts/Eastern_European_Time/0x0r1oyC">EET</a>) with DST</td></tr><tr><td>From 19 January 1992</td><td><a href="/facts/UTC%252B03%3a00/edqscrXm">UTC+03:00</a> with DST</td></tr><tr><td>From 27 March 2011</td><td><a href="/facts/UTC%252B04%3a00/WjszADAx">UTC+04:00</a></td></tr><tr><td>From 26 October 2014</td><td><a href="/facts/UTC%252B03%3a00/edqscrXm">UTC+03:00</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="anomalies">Anomalies</h2> <p>Since political, in addition to purely geographical, criteria are used in drawing time zones, they do not precisely adhere to meridian lines. The "purely geographical" MSK (UTC+03:00) time zone would consist of the band between meridians 37°30' E and 52°30' E. However, there are European locales that despite lying in an area with a "physical" UTC+03:00 time, are in another time zone; likewise, there are European areas that have gone for UTC+03:00, even though their "physical" time zone is different. Following is a list of such anomalies: </p> <h3>Areas located outside UTC+03:00 longitudes using Moscow Time (UTC+03:00) time</h3> <p>Areas west of 37°30' E ("physical" UTC+02:00) that use UTC+03:00 </p> <ul><li>The entirety of <a href="/facts/Belarus/vweHwgob">Belarus</a> with 23°10' E as the westernmost point where UTC+3 has been used since 2011, thus aligning with MSK since 2014 (see also <a href="/facts/Minsk_Time/u817ebRV">Minsk Time</a>)</li> <li>Western Russia, including Saint Petersburg, half of Moscow and Crimea</li></ul> <p>Areas between 52°30' E and 67°30' E ("physical" UTC+04:00) that use UTC+03:00 </p> <ul><li>Russia, including most of <a href="/facts/Franz_Josef_Land/3vInE0uH">Franz Josef Land</a>, <a href="/facts/Yuzhny_Island/hyR51Id0">Yuzhny Island</a>, most of <a href="/facts/Severny_Island/B46qjo9z">Severny Island</a> with an exception to the very east, and some parts of the Russian mainland (<a href="/facts/Komi_Republic/QJMLcYwC">Komi Republic</a>, <a href="/facts/Nenets_Autonomous_Okrug/EkWXg6J3">Nenets Autonomous Okrug</a>, east of <a href="/facts/Kirov_Oblast/S5p78YwR">Kirov Oblast</a> and <a href="/facts/Tatarstan/axUuuoe5">Tatarstan</a>)</li></ul> <p>Areas east of 67°30' E ("physical" <a href="/facts/UTC%252B05%3a00/kzIToQPs">UTC+05:00</a>) that use UTC+03:00 </p> <ul><li>The very east of <a href="/facts/Severny_Island/B46qjo9z">Severny Island</a> in Russia with 69°2' E as the easternmost point where MSK is used</li></ul> <h3>Areas located within UTC+03:00 longitudes (37°30' E – 52°30' E) using other time zones</h3> <p>Areas that use UTC+02:00 </p> <ul><li>Eastern parts of Ukraine</li></ul> <p>Areas that use UTC+04:00 </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Georgia_(country)/ccBF8bBE">Georgia</a> with an exception of <a href="/facts/Abkhazia/7to1809j">Abkhazia</a> and <a href="/facts/South_Ossetia/AF7z9Q3Q">South Ossetia</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Armenia/t3GQx9sU">Armenia</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Azerbaijan/Ho5joRTJ">Azerbaijan</a></li> <li>The <a href="/facts/Oblasts_of_Russia/spLSx9U3">Russian Oblasts</a> of <a href="/facts/Astrakhan_Oblast/4kIF1hof">Astrakhan</a>, <a href="/facts/Samara_Oblast/IyQ8pEUJ">Samara</a>, <a href="/facts/Saratov_Oblast/9BhS5Vhc">Saratov</a> and <a href="/facts/Ulyanovsk_Oblast/q0yDeYdC">Ulyanovsk</a> with an exception to the very east</li> <li>Western half of the <a href="/facts/Republics_of_Russia/zywDa6Uo">Russian Republic</a> of <a href="/facts/Udmurtia/Llgh73Np">Udmurtia</a></li></ul> <p>Areas that use UTC+05:00 </p> <ul><li>The western tip of <a href="/facts/Perm_Krai/UfvKrJgT">Perm Krai</a> in Russia, and the western parts of the <a href="/facts/Orenburg_Oblast/DNBAya6V">Orenburg Oblast</a> in Russia</li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/East_Africa_Time/Nh0B1esY">East Africa Time</a>, also in <a href="/facts/UTC%252B03%3a00/edqscrXm">UTC+03:00</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Time_in_Russia/YACxV4gq">Time in Russia</a></li></ul> <h2 id="notes">Notes</h2> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171108130528/http://timenow.msk.ru/en/">Current time in Moscow</a>[<i>dead link</i>]</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Russia Turns Clocks Back to 'Winter' Time, during British summer time however Moscow time is only 2 hours ahead of the UK and 3 in the winter". RIA Novosti. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014. <a href="http://en.ria.ru/russia/20141026/194606015/Russia-Turns-Clocks-Back-to-Winter-Time.html" target="_blank">http://en.ria.ru/russia/20141026/194606015/Russia-Turns-Clocks-Back-to-Winter-Time.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Russia Abolishes Winter Time". Timeanddate.com. 8 February 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2011. <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/russia-winter-time.html" target="_blank">http://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/russia-winter-time.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Russia Turns Clocks Back to 'Winter' Time, during British summer time however Moscow time is only 2 hours ahead of the UK and 3 in the winter". RIA Novosti. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014. <a href="http://en.ria.ru/russia/20141026/194606015/Russia-Turns-Clocks-Back-to-Winter-Time.html" target="_blank">http://en.ria.ru/russia/20141026/194606015/Russia-Turns-Clocks-Back-to-Winter-Time.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"DPR and LPR switch over to Moscow time". Tass - Russian News Agency. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2015. <a href="http://tass.ru/en/world/756540" target="_blank">http://tass.ru/en/world/756540</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Time Zone Database (IANA) <a href="https://www.iana.org/time-zones" target="_blank">https://www.iana.org/time-zones</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>