RUNNet (Russian UNiversity Network) is a major federal research and education network, successfully functioning and developing since 1994. RUNNet was organized in order to adopt the practical steps to create common information area for the education and science of the Russian Federation on the basis of an industrial network infrastructure for improving management efficiency, ensuring information exchange between educational and scientific organizations for realization of their core activities.

RUNNet is the national-level backbone network for today, with an extensive high-speed infrastructure and international channels that allow the integration into foreign scientific and educational networks and the public Internet. RUNNet is run by the State Institute of Information Technologies and Telecommunications (SIIT&T "Informika").

RUNNet is supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia. The network backbone nodes are located in the largest cities of Russian Federation and abroad (Amsterdam, Stockholm, Helsinki). They provide access for the leading universities and scientific organizations from all the federal districts to resources of RUNNet and international National research and education networks (NRENs) and collaborations such as GÉANT, NORDUnet and with Tier-1 operators such as Level3 and TeliaSonera.

RUNNet has its own cross-border DWDM system terminated in Finland. IPv6, multicast, MPLS, VPN are broadly implemented at RUNNet infrastructure. RUNNet is the basis of large-scale projects related use of cloud and distributed computing technologies, supercomputing, distance education, providing an environment for the development of innovative technologies, information and documentary interaction of universities and other subordinate organizations of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia.