The RuNet studied the readiness of mail systems for Cyrillic domains.

During Russian Internet Week (RIW 2010), Sergey Baukin, head of the hosting department at RU-Center, reported that users would have difficulty using email in the Cyrillic domain zone .РФ.

Postal services are not yet ready to work with Russian-language Cyrillic email. Email problems are particularly noticeable for those using web services. Gmail has issues with Cyrillic email addresses. Russian-language email services such as Mail.ru, Rambler.ru, and Yandex are faring better.

As a reminder, the Russian Ministry of Communications recently announced an open tender for the creation of email services with Cyrillic domains. Five million rubles will be allocated for this project.

Email clients face similar challenges. Currently, only Outlook 2007 and above can handle Cyrillic addresses, while Thunderbird doesn't support Russian addresses at all.

According to Sergey Baukin, the correct sending and receiving of emails with Cyrillic addresses can be ensured by amending 47 RFC (Request for Comments) standards. This process takes about a year. Afterward, the email infrastructure, including applications, must be updated accordingly.