The Federal Automobile Road M-4 "Don" is a major

expressway Expressway may refer to: * Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. * Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road. *Expressway, the fictional s ...

, trunk road that links

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the ...

Rostov-na-Donu Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East ...

and

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern ...

. Its length is 1517 kilometres. Highway Don Voronezh South-East

The route starts at the

Moscow Ring Road The Moscow Automobile Ring Road (russian: link=no, Московская кольцевая автомобильная дорога, Moskovskaja koltsevaya avtomobilnaya doroga), or MKAD (), is a ring road running predominantly on the city border ...

(as Kashira Highway) and runs south, passing west of Vidnoye, east of Domodedovo, west of

Kashira Kashira (russian: Каши́ра) is a town and the administrative center of Kashirsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Oka River south of Moscow. Population: History It was first mentioned in 1356 as the village of Koshira ...

and Stupino, where the Caspian Highway branches off to the east. The Don Highway continues across

Tula Oblast Tula Oblast (russian: Ту́льская о́бласть, ''Tulskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an Oblasts of Russia, oblast) of Russia. It is geographically in the European Russia region of the country and is p ...

west of

Venev Venyov (russian: Венёв) is a town and the administrative center of Venyovsky District in Tula Oblast, Russia, located on the Venyovka River, east of Tula, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History It was founded in the ...

, through

Bogoroditsk Bogoroditsk (russian: Богоро́дицк) is a town and the administrative center of Bogoroditsky District in Tula Oblast, Russia, located on the Upyorta River, a tributary of the Upa. Population: History It was founded in the second ha ...

and

Yefremov Yefremov or Efremov (russian: Ефремов) and Yefremova or Efremova (russian: Ефремова; feminine) is a common Russian surname. It is derived from the male given name Yefrem and literally means ''Yefrem's''. Yefrem is the Russian form of ...

, then across

Lipetsk Oblast Lipetsk Oblast (russian: Липецкая область, Lipetskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Lipetsk. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,173,513. Geography Lipe ...

, passing through

Yelets Yelets, or Elets (russian: Еле́ц), is a city in Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Bystraya Sosna River, which is a tributary of the Don. Population: History Yelets is the oldest center of the Central Black Earth Region. It was me ...

and Zadonsk, and then across

Voronezh Oblast Voronezh Oblast (russian: Воронежская область, Voronezhskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Voronezh. Its population was 2,308,792 as of the 2021 Census. Geography V ...

, bypassing

and

Boguchar Boguchar (russian: Богуча́р) is a town and the administrative center of Bogucharsky District in Voronezh Oblast, Russia, located on the Boguchar River (a tributary of the Don), south of Voronezh, the administrative center of the oblast. ...

. After crossing the

Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

near Rostov, the road continues further south to

and finishes at

Novorossiysk Novorossiysk ( rus, Новоросси́йск, p=nəvərɐˈsʲijsk; ady, ЦIэмэз, translit=Chəməz, p=t͡sʼɜmɜz) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities hono ...

. The Don Road, extensively upgraded and widened in the 2000s–2010s into an expressway, is an artery connecting Moscow with

Southern Russia Southern Russia or the South of Russia (russian: Юг России, ''Yug Rossii'') is a colloquial term for the southernmost geographic portion of European Russia generally covering the Southern Federal District and the North Caucasian Feder ...

. In the summer months, the road suffers from heavy traffic congestion caused by summer vacationers travelling to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

resorts like

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

and by lorries transporting fruit from the southern provinces to the heavily populated areas of Central and Northern Russia. M-4 currently is the only Russian nationwide

. The road is partially tolled. The Moscow-Krasnodar section is part of

European route E115 European Route E 115 is a European B class road in Russia, connecting the cities Yaroslavl - Novorossiysk Route *: Yaroslavl - Moscow *: Moscow * M4: (Concurrent with ) Moscow - Kashira *: Kashira - Voronezh () - Kamensk-Shakhtinsky () - ...

and is concurrent with

European route E119 European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

from Moscow to Kashira. The Moscow-Kashira section is also part of AH8, the section in Rostov-on-Don is part of

European route E50 European route E 50 is an A-type east–west connection across the European continent. It connects the key naval port of Brest France with Makhachkala, on the Caspian Sea in the Russian republic Dagestan. Outlook Half the route is on h ...

, the Dzhubga-Novossiysk section is part of European route E97 and the Krasnodar-Dzhubga section is part of European route E592.

External links

M-4 page on Rosavtodor site

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:M04 highway (Russia) Roads in Russia