Abstract
The paper deals with the Russian Cyrillic character ⟨ë⟩, which stands for the sound [ʲo]/[jo], and its transcription into Czech. This character is used only facultatively and is usually replaced by the
Cyrillic character ⟨e⟩. This causes potentially troublesome homography since the character ⟨e⟩ could stand either for [ʲo]/[jo] (⟨e⟩ replacing ⟨ë⟩) or for [ʲe]/[je] (the "usual" ⟨e⟩). The paper investigates how chosen Russian surnames containing this facultative character (Potëmkin, Rublëv etc.) are transcribed into the Czech Latin alphabet and discusses the reasons for transcribing it into Czech
("appropriately") as ⟨o⟩, ⟨jo⟩ or ("inappropriately") as ⟨e⟩, ⟨je⟩, ⟨ě⟩.