The first three are Moscow , St. Petersburg , and Novosibirsk . Nizhny Novgorod had a population of 1,311,252 in 2002 , and one of 1,438,133 in 1989 . Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny , is the fourth largest city in Russia , ranking after Moscow , St. Petersburg , and Novosibirsk .