According to the instruction from the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation, effective from July 1, 2011, the Russian Embassy in the United States and all Russian Consulates General in the US require that all Russian visa applications must be prepared using the Electronic visa application form available online at http://evisa.kdmid.ru.
Russian visa applications prepared in any other format or in a writing are not accepted after July 1, 2011.
After filling their Electronic visa application all applicants must print a copy of their applications, sign and date it, attach a photo and submit this printed original form, along with other necessary documentation to the Russian Consulate in the US.