Moscow changes area code from 095 to 495

All other cities with area code with a leading "0" are affected. Read below for details.

The leading "0" will be changed to "4" in all area codes starting December 1, 2005. Both old and new area codes will work until February 1, 2006, so that people could get used to it. Why are they changing codes ? The Ministry of Communication of Russian Federation has the following answer.

Almost all countries of the world dial "0" for international calls, but in Russia it is still "8-10". Russia's fist step towards the world's standard would be to eliminate the leading "0" in area codes.

Emergency numbers, like police, ambulance, and fire department, which currently also start with "0" will be changed to one common number 112, by 2008.

Only after that the dialing sequence for long distance and international calls will be changed. For now to get the long distance line we should use the good old "8".

Here is the list of the cities affected: