Building Number in a Russian Address: What It Means and How to Write It

A building number is the number that identifies one specific building on a street, written after the street name. In a Russian address it is called "dom" (house), and it is often followed by extra parts: "korpus" (block), "stroenie" (structure) or, in St Petersburg, "litera" (letter). To send anything to Russia, flowers included, you need the full chain: street, building number with every suffix, then entrance, floor and flat.

We deliver bouquets every day, and most missed or delayed deliveries come down to the same thing: an address that looked complete to the sender but pointed to three different buildings on the ground. Below we explain, as people who read hundreds of Russian addresses a week, what each part of the building number means, where foreigners usually go wrong and how to check an address before you order.

What "building number" means in Russia

In English-speaking countries a building number is usually one figure: 221 Baker Street. In Russia the number on the facade is only the start. Large housing estates built in the 1960s-80s often have several separate blocks sharing one street number, so the address looks like "dom 12, korpus 3". That means building 12, block 3, and block 3 can stand a few hundred metres away from block 1 with its own courtyard and its own entrance doors.

The order in a Russian address runs from large to small: city, street, building, then flat. On an envelope it is traditionally written the other way round from Western habit, but online forms, including ours, simply ask for each part in its own field. What matters is not the order on paper but that nothing is lost: a missing "korpus" is the single most common reason a courier ends up at the wrong door.

Some buildings also have a fraction in the number, such as 15/2. This is a corner building with an address on two streets: number 15 on the main street and number 2 on the side street. Write it exactly as the recipient gives it, with the slash, because both numbers are used to find the building.

Dom, korpus, stroenie and litera: the parts explained

Dom (abbreviated d.) is the main building number. Korpus (k. or korp.) is a block within the same plot, typical of residential estates in Moscow and many other cities. Stroenie (str. or s.) is a separate structure on the same plot, most often used for offices, business centres and old factory sites turned into lofts. If a recipient works in an office, ask specifically whether there is a "stroenie" number, because business addresses rarely make sense without it.

Litera (lit. or a capital letter after the number) is mostly a St Petersburg feature. "Dom 5, litera A" is the official way the city registers buildings, and many people omit it in everyday life because their building is the only one. When there are two buildings, 5A and 5B, the letter decides which courtyard the courier walks into. In Latin script you can simply write 5A or 5, lit. A.

You may also see "vladenie" (vl., estate) on industrial or suburban plots, and in new districts a building may still be known by its construction number rather than the final postal one. If the recipient lives in a brand-new block, ask them how navigation apps show it: that is how the courier will look for it too.

Bouquets we can deliver

Bouquet of 1 yellow sunflowers

$13

Bouquet of 3 white French roses with eucalyptus, 50 cm

$18

Bouquet of 3 red French roses with eucalyptus, 50 cm

$18

Bouquet of 3 pink roses with eucalyptus, 50 cm

$18

How to write a building number on a flower order

Put the building number and all its suffixes in the address field in Latin letters or digits: "Lenina st., 12 k3" or "Nevsky pr., 28 lit. A" is perfectly readable for our operators and couriers. You do not need to transliterate perfectly; you need to keep every number. If you are unsure whether a suffix is "k" or "str", write it out in full in the comment, for example "building 12, block 3".

After the building comes the information that gets the courier from the street to the door: entrance number (pod'ezd), floor, flat number and intercom or gate code. We have a separate guide on adding a flat number and entry code to a Russian address, and it is worth reading if the recipient lives in a block of flats. A building number without a flat number gets the bouquet to the right building and then stops at a locked door.

Add a short landmark if the building is hard to find: "entrance from the courtyard", "the tall block behind the school", "second gate on the left". Couriers read comments, and one plain sentence often saves fifteen minutes of walking around an estate where every block looks the same.

Gated courtyards, offices and new estates

Many Russian residential blocks sit inside a fenced courtyard with a gate, and the gate is often on a different street from the official building number. If you know how to get in, write it in the comment: the gate code, the side street the entrance faces, or that the concierge should be called. We cover this in detail in how to help the courier get through a gate.

Business centres are another trap. The address "dom 10, stroenie 4" may refer to a campus of eight buildings with a single checkpoint. Give the company name, the floor and, ideally, a name the reception desk will recognise. Large offices often require a pass for visitors, so a delivery is easiest when the recipient knows something is coming, even if they do not know what.

New residential complexes often have both a marketing name ("Sunny Park") and a real postal address. Always use the postal one with the full building number. The marketing name is a helpful extra in the comment, but on its own it can cover a dozen blocks.

Checking the address before you order

The surest way to get a correct building number is to ask the recipient, or someone close to them, to send the address exactly as it appears on their documents or delivery apps. If the flowers are a surprise, a family member or colleague can usually help without spoiling it. Delivery is anonymous by default, so the courier will not name the sender unless you want them to.

The courier calls the recipient about 15 minutes before arrival, which is why a correct Russian mobile number matters as much as the building number. If something about the address is unclear, that call is when it gets sorted out. Our note on entering a Russian mobile number in the order form shows the formats that work.

If you are still unsure, message our manager on WhatsApp before paying. Send the address as you have it, and we will tell you if a block, structure or letter seems to be missing. The manager can also help you agree the delivery time and the card text in the same conversation.

What happens if the building number is wrong

If the courier reaches the given building and the recipient is not there, the first step is a phone call. Most mistakes are fixed in that minute: the recipient says "no, block 2, across the courtyard" and the bouquet arrives a few minutes later. This is why a reachable phone number is the best insurance against an imperfect address.

If the recipient cannot be reached or is not at home, we agree a second delivery the same day, or with your consent the flowers can be left with a neighbour or the concierge. City delivery costs 500 RUB; for remote districts and suburbs the operator confirms the price when confirming the order, so an address outside the city limits is clarified before the bouquet leaves.

The practical lesson is simple: treat every part of the building number as important, even if it looks like a formality. Once the address is right, you can choose a bouquet in our catalogue, pay online by bank card, SBP or Yandex Pay, and pick express delivery in 1-2 hours or an exact time window that suits the recipient. We deliver bouquets across Russia in 1–2 hours.