Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) has been placed third on this year's ranking of the top universities in developing countries, compiled by the Times Higher Education magazine.
The ranking, published on Dec. 2, compares 200 higher education institutions in 35 emerging countries including the BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
This year's ranking is topped by China's Peking University, followed by another Chinese higher education institution, Tsinghua University.
In total, 15 Russian universities made it into the ranking this year and seven of them featured in the top 50.
In 2012, President Vladimir Putin stated a goal to have at least five Russian universities in the world's top 100 by 2020.