The history of distance education in Russia and in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is a history of dramatic change in ideology, conceptual framework, and approach. It can be divided into two main stages: initial formation and development into the world's largest system of correspondence learning, from the mid 1920s to the early 1990s, and formation of a modern system of open and distance education based on new information and communication technology (ICT), from the early 1990s until the present, as an alternative to correspondence learning inherited from the old Soviet system. The second stage of development of the distance education system in Russia coincided with the drastic reforms of Perestroika (early to mid 1990s). Today, distance education is becoming a catalyst for the modernization of the Russian educational system, which still is very traditional. With its fresh concepts and nontraditional stance on the role of education, distance education has been provoking an important change in the mentality of educators throughout Russia.