The first economic coal accumulation in the territory of Russia is associated with the Devonian deposits of Siberia. In the Barzas area of the Kuznetsk basin a 0.8-3.6 m thick coal seam occurs in Jivetian. The Middle Devonian coals are also recorded in the Urals and in Kazakhstan. They have a peculiar microstructure and contain a great amount of thick psilophytic culticle (to 60%). The Barzas coals are subbituminous and contain a lot of volatile matter and resins. The Upper Devonian coals differ in their composition and original matter from the Middle Devonian ones and are similar to the Lower Carboniferous coals in the European part of Russia. The occurrence areas ofthe Upper Devonian coals have a submeridional orientation (from the Russian Platform through Timan toward islands in the Arctic Ocean).