The Russian alphabet, also called Cyrillic, consists of thirty-three letters representing thirty-one sounds and two signs that have no phonetic value of their own. It is attributed to the Greek monks Cyrill and Methodius, who came as missionaries to Christianize the Slavic countries and left their mark on the language as well. Modified forms of this alphabet are still in use today in countries other than Russia, including Bulgaria and some of the new nations of the former Yugoslavia.
