Russia's transportation system is extensive, but is in a state of general decay. Maintenance, modernization, and expansion are required for Russia's infrastructure, much of which operates beyond capacity.

Railroads have long been an important means of transportation in Russia. In the 1890s, a vast state-sponsored program of railway construction commenced, with the goal of nurturing private enterprise, exploiting natural resources, and expanding heavy industry (especially metallurgy and mineral fuels). The Trans-Siberian Railroad was the cornerstone of this development. From 1898-1901, more than 3,000 km (1,900 mi) of track were constructed per year. Railroad development also figured prominently during the Soviet era. Railways in 2004 extended some 87,157 km (54,160 mi), of which 86,200 km (53,616 mi) were primarily 1.52-m broad gauge track.

There were 537,289 km (334,194 mi) of highways in 2001 (the latest year for which data was available), of which 362,133 km (225,247 mi) were paved. As of 2003, there were 23,383,000 passenger cars and 5,400,000 commercial vehicles registered for use. Many imports from Europe are increasingly arriving in Russia. Russia's ratio of population per car is 6.2.

Marine access has been important to Russia ever since the construction of St. Petersburg was ordered by Peter the Great on the marshland adjoining the Gulf of Finland, in order to provide imperial Russia with a "window on the West." Other important maritime ports include Kaliningrad, on the Baltic Sea; Murmansk and Arkhangel'sk, both on the Barents Sea; Novorossiysk, on the Black Sea; Vladivostok and Nakhodka, both on the Sea of Japan; Tiksi on the Laptev Sea; and Magadan and Korsakov on the Sea of Okhotsk (the latter is on Sakhalin). As of 2004, Russia had 96,000 km (59,712 mi) of navigable inland waterways. Of that total, 72,000 km (44,784 mi) were in European Russia and linked the Black Sea, the White Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Azov. Major inland ports include Nizhniy Novgorod, Kazan', Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Samara, Moscow, Rostov, and Volgograd. The merchant fleet consisted in 2005 of 1,194 ships of 1,000 GRT or over, totaling 4,521,472 GRT. Early in the 21st century, a new port is scheduled to be built in the Batareynaya Harbor of the Baltic Sea about 70 km (43 mi) southwest of St. Petersburg. The new facility will handle oil shipments.

In 2004, Russia had an estimated 2,586 airports and airfields. As of 2005, a total of 640 had paved runways, and there were also 42 heliports. Principal airports include Novy at Khabarovsk, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo at Moskva, Tolmachevo at Novosibirsk, Rostov-Na-Donu, Pulkovo at St. Petersburg, Adler at Sochi, and Yekaterinburg at Coltsovo. In 2003, about 22.723 million passengers were carried on scheduled domestic and international flights.