Trolleybuses in former Soviet Union countries

In Soviet cities with underground metropolitan railways, trolleybus systems were intended to replace tramcars.

Some vehicles, wires and other equipment were evacuated from Moscow in 1941; these materials were used for erecting new lines and systems in other cities.

In the front-line city of Leningrad, trolleybus service ceased operations in November 1941 and was not restored until the end of the war.

This restored Soviet plans of mass transit development in the form of co-existence of subways, trams, and trolleys.

Many cities and towns introduced passenger and cargo trolleybus services, sometimes interfering with tram operations.

Production at the time was limited to the monopoly Zavod imeni Uritskogo (ZiU, named after Moisei Uritsky).

Within the area of modern Russia, there are two closed trolleybus systems, in Shakhty (whose operations ceased in October 2007) and Moscow on 26 August 2020.