Перед сном я убираю телефон в ящик тумбочки.

Because перед normally takes the instrumental case when it means before / in front of.

• сон = sleep
• сном = instrumental singular of сон

So перед сном literally means before sleep, and in natural English it often corresponds to before going to sleep or before bed.

Here убираю means I put away or I tidy away, not I clean.

The verb убирать / убрать can have several related meanings, including:

• to clean up
• to remove
• to put away

In this sentence, it means that the speaker takes the phone and puts it somewhere out of the way, into the drawer.

In Russian, the present tense of an imperfective verb is often used for habitual / repeated actions.

So я убираю телефон... here means something like:

• I put my phone away before bed
• I usually put my phone in the drawer before going to sleep

It describes a routine, not one single completed event.

If you meant I will put it away, one time, you would more likely use the perfective future:

• я уберу телефон...

Телефон is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case.

But for masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is usually the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: телефон
• accusative: телефон

That is why the form does not change.

Because Russian uses different cases after в depending on the meaning:

• в + accusative = motion into
• в + prepositional = location in

Here the phone is being moved into the drawer, so Russian uses в ящик.

Compare:

• Я кладу телефон в ящик. = I put the phone into the drawer.
• Телефон лежит в ящике. = The phone is in the drawer.

It is in the accusative singular because it follows в with the meaning of motion into something.

For this noun, the accusative looks the same as the nominative:

• nominative: ящик
• accusative: ящик

So the form stays unchanged, even though the case is different.

Тумбочки is in the genitive singular.

The phrase ящик тумбочки means the drawer of the nightstand / bedside table. Russian often uses noun + genitive to show relationships like:

• possession
• part of something
• belonging to something

So:

• ящик = drawer
• тумбочки = of the nightstand

Together: the nightstand’s drawer or the drawer of the nightstand.

Тумбочка usually means a small cabinet or bedside table / nightstand, depending on context.

In this sentence, the most natural meaning is nightstand or bedside table, since the sentence is about what someone does before sleep.

Yes, you could, but the nuance changes a little.

• кладу телефон в ящик = I put the phone in the drawer
• убираю телефон в ящик = I put the phone away in the drawer

Кладу focuses more on the physical act of placing it somewhere.
Убираю suggests removing it from use, putting it out of sight, or tidying it away. In this sentence, убираю sounds very natural because it implies a bedtime routine.

No, Russian word order is fairly flexible.

Перед сном я убираю телефон в ящик тумбочки is a natural order because it starts with the time phrase before bed.

You could also say:

• Я перед сном убираю телефон в ящик тумбочки.
• Телефон я перед сном убираю в ящик тумбочки.

These versions are all grammatical, but the emphasis changes slightly. The original sentence sounds neutral and natural.

Often yes.

Russian verbs usually show the subject clearly, and убираю already tells you it is I.

So in context, you could say:

• Перед сном убираю телефон в ящик тумбочки.

However, keeping я is also completely normal. It may sound a little clearer or slightly more explicit.

Russian has no articles.

So nouns like телефон, ящик, and тумбочка can mean:

• the phone / a phone
• the drawer / a drawer
• the nightstand / a nightstand

The exact meaning is understood from context. In this sentence, English would naturally use the because the objects are probably specific and known from the situation, but Russian does not need an article to show that.