Russian Minority Research Articles

Kin-State Intervention and the Securitization-Minority Policy Nexus: Hungarians and Russian-Speakers in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, launched under the pretext of protecting the rights of Russian kin populations outside of Russia, had a massive impact on security concerns beyond Ukraine. An important consequence was the intensification of insecurities about the presence of large Russian-speaking minorities in Russia’s neighboring states. Scholars have long emphasized that kin-state involvement can lead to the securitization of minority issues, harming the willingness of governments to support collective claims by minorities associated with that kin-state. Yet there is scarce empirical knowledge about whether and under what conditions an assertive kin-state triggers securitization resulting in restrictive minority policy. We assessed this securitization-minority policy nexus comparatively, focusing on the impact of intensifying Hungarian and Russian kin-state activism on policies toward Hungarian and Russophone minorities in five states in Central and Eastern Europe. Our main finding is that intensified kin-state activism does not significantly disrupt previously established paths in minority policy-making, unless a kin-state turns to territorial revisionism. We also found that titular ontological insecurity (faced by actors belonging to a state’s dominant ethnic group) is a helpful heuristic for explaining instances when securitization results in policy restrictions, and we offer conceptual tools for analyzing the salience of both internal and external sources of titular insecurity. Ultimately, our findings highlight the necessity for scholars to distinguish between nonterritorial and territorial types of kin-state intervention in studies about the security dimension of kin-state involvement.

Towards assiminationalism? The right-wing populists’ transformative storytelling on an ethnic minority in Estonia

ABSTRACT While right-wing populists are typically antagonizing the ethnic Other, there are situations where select ethnic minority groups are depicted in a more favourable light or even incorporated among the People the right-wing populists claim to represent. This article aims to uncover, how right-wing populists utilize storytelling to create a favourable association between the conservative values of an ethnic minority and the anti-gender and xenophobic discourse of the far right. Focused on the Estonian right-wing populist party EKRE, we introduce the concept of assiminationalism to explain, how the party negotiates its nativist and xenophobic stances towards the Russian minority with the mutual conservative values and aversion toward gendered and racialized minorities. Even the seemingly more inclusionary stories are told primarily from the vantage point of prioritizing the majority rights, by creating in-group and inter-group hierarchies, appealing to a sense of shame and yearning to belong among the Russian minority, and by depoliticizing cultural rights issues. This suggests that while the rhetoric of right-wing populists regarding specific ethnic minorities may become more moderate, it does not entail a clean break with their nativist and xenophobic past.

‘Antigenderism’ as Russian Soft Power? Comparing Discourse on Sexual and Gender Minorities in Russia and Norway

Can Russian antigenderist discourse constitute an illiberal soft-power potential for the Russian government even in a West European state such as Norway? We define ‘antigenderist discourse’ as discourse rejecting equal rights, visibility or the very existence of all or some sexual and gender minorities. Despite some important differences regarding content and actors, both Norwegian and Russian media contain discourses where the freedom to be conservative, children’s safety and identity collectives, such as nation states, are constructed as being under attack from ‘gender ideology’, an umbrella term used by some conservatives for liberal ideas on sexual and gender minorities. This discursive overlap gives Russia some soft-power potential over antigenderist circles in Norway, but this potential appears weakly realised in practice, as the Norwegian texts examined here contain few explicitly positive references to Russian antigenderist policies.

Der Völkerbund und der Schutz der deutschen Minderheit in Rumänien

The study analyzes the way in which the German minority in Romania related, in the period 1920–1933, to the system ensuring the protection of linguistic, racial and religious minorities that operated under the authority of the League of Nations. We note that, while the German minorities in other European states (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia) were more active in their relationship with the League of Nations, sending petitions to Geneva, the sizable German minority in Romania did not turn to this “international court” in order to raise the problems it was facing in its relations with the Romanian state authorities. Although they were dissatisfied with the content of some laws adopted in the first interwar decade, the Germans in Romania did not refer to the League of Nations, as the Hungarian, Jewish or Russian minorities in Romania did, on issues related to agrarian reform and education laws. The German community in Romania chose the path of internal politics to make their demands known and pursue their economic, political and cultural objectives. Even if at certain moments the Germans in Romania considered the option of appealing to the League of Nations, this option had rather the role of “sensitizing” the ruling parties to the needs of the German minority. Nevertheless, I have identified and analyzed two petitions accepted by the League of Nations Secretariat, which are related, in a way, to the particular problems of the German minorities and to Romania’s post-imperial state status

Gender, power and international (mis)recognition: Russia’s quest for epistemic agency through the ‘civilisational’ crusade against the rights of sexual and gender minorities

This article explores Russia’s quest for agential equality with the US through the lens of the gendered dynamics of international (mis)recognition. It draws on the constructivist scholarship that emphasises Moscow’s unfulfilled desire for parity with, and perceived misrecognition by, the West as one of the principal drivers of post-Soviet Russian foreign policy. However, the article moves beyond these analyses by bringing to the fore the centrality of gender in the Kremlin’s pursuit of recognition. It argues that Russia’s ‘civilisational’ crusade against universal human rights, especially the rights of sexual and gender minorities, should be understood as part of the broader struggle for recognition on Russia’s terms. Since misrecognition is associated with curtailed agency and lower status, it invokes associations with femininity, which Russian elites and society generally view as a humiliating act of emasculation. Moscow’s crusade against the rights of sexual and gender minorities has been explicitly predicated on gendered meanings, discourses and policies. This crusade has been intended as a bold, remasculinising campaign that would enable Russia to assert its epistemic agency in the realm of universal human rights and establish epistemic parity with the West. Importantly, Moscow’s struggle against perceived Western misrecognition comes at a cost to sexual and gender minorities in Russia: it amounts to structural, social and physical violence against these minorities, rendering them profoundly insecure.

GEOGRAPHY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO DECISION- MAKING IN FOREIGN POLICY (RUSSIA AND UKRAINE MODEL)

Geography is the science that studies all natural and human phenomena in one place Geography studies the natural factors that affected the land inhabited by man, Describes human populations in terms of their relationship to the environment Political geography is the study of political units and their problems from the point of view of geography, The survey studies the relief and climate areas that affect the conditions of states and the phenomena in them. As for the political decision, it is very measure that the state takes to prevent any interference in the affairs of its society, and the political decision is formulated in a thoughtful way to solve a specific problem or crisis that passes in the country The process of making and implementing decisions goes through multiple stages, starting with the preparatory stage, identifying the variables related to the problem to be studied,then choosing the goal and drawing the strategy (identifying alternatives),then comes the decision-making stage, i.e. translating the decision into practical reality through actions, activities and work programs, Responsibility for the decision-making process is borne by a group of official and non-official bodies, the official bodies the constitution,then the legislative and executive authorities As for the unofficial bodies, they include political parties,pressure groups, and public opinion, for political decisions to be correct, they must serve the public interest,be built on scientific foundation, and take in to account the objective circumstances..objective circumstances. Ukraine experienced a state of internal crises after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, as crises became represented by the dissolution of parliament and re-elections,which are frequent and accelerating events, As the international Monetary Fund provided aid to reform the economic conditions of Ukraine after the transitional period it passed through,Ukraine became the coveted country and an open field for occupation by powerful countries. This is due to the weakness of Ukrainian politics. Ukraine distinguished location, which made it control the center of land and sea transportation between Asia and Europe, Russia decided that it was difficult to leave Ukraine to the west so Russia intervened militarily under the transfer from the Russian parliament on 28\2\2014 to protect Russian minorities and maintain influence in the city of Sevastopol, which is the last base in Crimea, The motive of the attack was to protect the region from the interference of other countries, to realize the dream of Russian to get on ports in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, and to save world trade routes where Russia's ships have been frozen for months in the Arctic annually. Russia made the decision to attack Ukraine, and the first thing it started was the bombing of the Donbas region, which is located in eastern Ukraine, which is characterized by its mineral wealth and the presence of coal mines, and thus Russia worked to create a state of paralysis in the airports located in eastern and northern Ukraine

Geostrategic situation of Latvia in relation to the foreign policy of the Russian Federation

The work addresses the issue of the geostrategic situation of Latvia in relation to Russia’s foreign policy, which is important for security in the Baltic Sea region. The work uses literary, historical and systemic methods of analysis. The aim of the work is to present the geostrategic position of Latvia. A historical analysis was undertaken indicating the causes of the current geostrategic situation of the country. The conditions and goals of the Russian foreign policy in the Baltic Sea basin and the strategic goals of actors involved in the region of NATO, the EU, the Russian Federation and Latvia were indicated. The main problems of the geostrategic location include cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns conducted by the Russian media and a real threat to the integrity of the state posed by the Russian inhabitants of the country. It was decided that the Russian population could be used as a tool of pressure on the country’s authorities, especially since the Russian minority, constituting approximately 26% of Latvia’s population, can create its own parties and demand its rights, including demands for autonomy. The forecast of changes assumes that this problem will increase as Latvia struggles with demographic complications. It can be concluded that the smaller the numerical ratio of Latvians to Russians, the more difficult it will be for them to maintain their own statehood in a potential conflict situation with Russia. This is currently the most serious issue in Latvia’s security policy.

Counterbalancing And Pragmatic Accommodation: CEE Countries Towards Russia’s Expansion, 2014-2021

The purpose of this article is to study the differentiation of CEE countries’ approaches towards Russia’s expansion, and then to identify explanatory variables. CEE policies fit to the balance of power categories, specifically: counterbalancing and accommodation. The method of assessing each CEE country’s policies towards Russia combines gathering information on 2014-2021 activities classified in three groups: bilateral relations with Russia; relations with other NATO countries framed as counterbalancing Russia; relations with Ukraine regarding counterbalancing Russia. The method of explanation for diverse CEE policies consists in assigning quantitative values and applying statistics in order to discover correlations. The result of the first step is placing each CEE country on the axis of relatively pro- (Hungary) and anti-Russian (Lithuania and Poland) policies. The quantitative version of the axis serves as dependent variable in the statistical research which reveals finals results: the strongest correlations are demonstrated by proximity and distance to Russia, which reflects Russia’s closest neighbors’ counterbalancing tendencies. Historical grievances and the size of Russian minorities are second-strongest. However, excluding Hungary, historical grievances become the strongest factor of anti-Russian policies.

A Chto Sluchilos'?: Ethnographies of Holding It Together

AbstractThis essay by sociocultural anthropologists of Russia working in the North American academy considers rupture in three ways. First, we review rupture as a theoretical concept that ethnographers have both used and contested in making sense of the end of the Soviet Union, to inform our reading of the present moment. Second, we think about what political and social relationships the war has made speakable and for whom, at a time when the possibilities of free expression in Russia carry novel risks. Anthropologists working with indigenous and ethnic minorities in Russia have long insisted on the country’s internal plurality. Drawing on this scholarship, we discuss the ways in which plurality has been freshly repoliticized in the context of the war in Ukraine, while carrying forward some of the legacies of its Soviet orchestration. Third, we observe that the 2022 invasion of Ukraine marks a rupture for ethnographers in the way we do fieldwork in and of Russia. In response, we call for a scholarly praxis of suturing together multiple scales of analysis, digital and geographic locations and incommensurable perspectives.

Estońska wizja obrony cywilnej jako istotny element koncepcji bezpieczeństwa całościowego w odpowiedzi na potencjalny kryzys polityczny

THE ESTONIAN VISION OF CIVIL DEFENCE AS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF OVERALL SECURITY IN RESPONSE TO A POTENTIAL POLITICAL CRISIS Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 began the modernisation of state security systems in the Baltic Sea region. A pioneer in the creation of comprehensive security was the Republic of Estonia, which began to implement the total defence strategy as early as 2008, after the political crisis caused by the Russian minority. The protests have disrupted the functioning of Estonian public institutions and the private sector, which are threatened by cyberattacks. The Russian Federation could use not only military but also hybrid means. Therefore, Estonia has decided to implement a completely new version of the total defence strategy. The paper seeks to assess the Estonian concept of holistic security, with particular emphasis on solutions for civil defence in crisis situations.

Karš Ukrainā: migrācijas ietekme uz Latvijas valodas politiku

Until March 2022, the Republic of Latvia belonged to the countries with rather low migration. Because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the situation changed unexpectedly. There was a Ukrainian minority in Latvia (42,300 people or 3.5% of the total population). During the first months of the war, appr. 10,000 refugees, mostly women and children, arrived in Latvia, and numbers may exceed 30,000 at present. A special law has already been adopted, including language and education rights articles. The Ukrainian language has become a more visible participant in the Latvian language market and will probably keep these positions after the Ukrainian victory. At the same time, the Latvian state has to ensure the successful integration of newcomers into Latvian society against the background of Latvian language skills. This aspect may be challenging because a part of Ukrainian refugees use Russian as their family language or have Russian language skills. Ukrainian nationals whose family language is Russian belong to the same linguistic community as members of the Russian minority in Latvia, but their political and ideological views can be completely different, raising the issue of linguistic and national identity. Latvia still has not overcome the consequences of Russification during the Soviet period, and the increase of Russian language use in public space is not in line with the goals of the Latvian language policy.

Issues of national minorities in the policy of the Eastern Partnership

The peculiarities of implementing the policy of the EU’s Eastern Partnership Initiative in regards to protecting the rights of national minorities have been studied. The issue of national minorities in the EU is considered from the perspectives of security, democracy, and regional integration. Despite contemporary criticism of the EU’s Eastern Partnership Initiative, many initiatives aimed at protecting the rights of national minorities in the region have been implemented, thereby fostering intergovernmental cooperation. It is evident that Ukraine and Moldova are the most proactive in protecting the rights of national minorities amongst the Eastern Partnership countries. These countries have been granted the status of candidate for EU accession. Despite the Russian-Ukrainian war, Ukraine actively works on improving legislation in the field of ethno-policy. Particular emphasis is placed on analysis of the institutional structure of national minorities, communication pathways, and non-discriminatory policies in Eastern Partnership countries. Member states of the Eastern Partnership actively utilize “soft power” techniques through a network of minority organizations. It has been suggested that European integration of Ukraine and Moldova has generated considerable opportunities for the development of national minorities. Loosening of state borders has enabled national minorities to connect more deeply with their ethnic homelands, thereby transforming them into engaged participants of transborder cooperation and significant figures of regional policy. The Eastern Partnership furnishes a platform for minorities to assert themselves in decisions which pertain to their lives, execute grant initiatives, and take part in regional associations of minorities. Nevertheless, certain risks are highlighted, such as particular nations exploiting EU enlargement to tackle minority matters or manipulate minority rights. The EU has analyzed programs supporting national minorities, especially those implemented in the Eastern Partnership countries. While Eastern Partnership countries have developed their policies regarding national minorities, there are common problems faced by minorities in the region. Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, and Armenia are involved in conflicts, being former Soviet Union countries, and face numerous challenges concerning the functioning of the Russian minority, which is numerically significant in this region. It is stated that the EU cooperates with the Eastern Partnership countries on matters regarding national minorities, and it is crucial to develop innovative models for managing ethnic diversity, promoting the involvement of national minorities in making socio-political decisions and integrating them into society.

Indigenous connections with the resourcescape in the Russian North and Siberia

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the impacts of resource extraction on indigenous communities focusing on the case studies of two indigenous minorities in Russia: Veps in Karelia and Soiots in Buriatia. Veps and Soiots have a history of engagement with resource extraction, which goes back to the eighteenth century and continues till the present time. By focusing on two models of human – landscape relations and industrial development in indigenous territories, the article discusses the perceptions of decorative stones among Veps and Soiot households. It specifically focuses on parallels between mining and other forms of economic activities such as hunting, fishing, or tourism development. The article demonstrates that different forms of resource extractions are closely connected in Veps and Soiot villages, forming a common resourcescape. Both mining and other forms of extracting natural resources contribute to local visions of sustainability, which unite various forms of engagement with nature.

WAR IN UKRAINE: RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA THEMES

With this article, we aim to identify the propaganda themes associated with the Russian Federation in the context of the war in Ukraine and how they are formulated, based on an analysis of the articles found in the database of EUvsDisinfo (Disinfo Database) over a two-month period (August ̶ September 2022). Propaganda themes were identified by applying two types of research: qualitative (content analysis and thematic analysis) and quantitative. The research results indicated the following Russian propaganda themes: the theme of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant attack, the theme of Nazism and fascism, the theme of military aggression, the theme of Russian values and legality (referendum), the theme of lost sovereignty and imperialism, the theme of staging attacks/massacres, the theme of the global conspiracy and the West, the theme of the food crisis/food insecurity, the theme of Russian minority and Russophobia. The purpose of this analysis is to increase awareness regarding Russian Federation’s hostile actions in the virtual space, as well as the resilience of users to online messages.

The Eternal Legacy of the Great Patriotic War? The Political Instrumentalization of the Soviet Victory over Fascism and Its Utilization in Czechoslovakia after 1968 and in the Czech Republic Today

Theoretically grounded in memory studies, this article reconstructs how the official Soviet-Russian myth of the Great Patriotic War has been politically instrumentalized and abused to promote and legitimize the Kremlin’s power intentions. It examines the forms, mechanisms and actors of this systematically applied politics of history and memory. First in the context of the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia in August 1968 and the justification of the subsequent Soviet Army’s stay in the country, then in the context of the propaganda activities of pro-Russian activists in the Czech Republic and the current Russian aggression against Ukraine. By the myth of the Great Patriotic War, the author understands the purposefully created, maintained and idealized image of the victorious campaign of the Red Army between 1941 and 1945, the selfless and unprecedented Soviet heroism that saved European nations from German fascism. This sacralized narrative, which suppresses other historical narratives, is monopolized in contemporary Russian state policy as an important tool to shape the historical memory of Russian society and to unite it against new and presumably hostile threats. The author demonstrates the strategy in which during the normalization of the 1970s and 1980s the soldiers of the Soviet Army, who allegedly provided “fraternal assistance” in the suppression of the counter-revolution in Czechoslovakia in August 1968, were presented as the successors and “sons” of the heroic liberators of 1945 and shows how they themselves used and participated in this cult in their “comradeship” with Czech society. After the collapse of the communist regime, this official narrative lost its weight, but the “Russian world” (russkii mir) as a conglomerate of ideas linking segments of Russian culture, Orthodoxy, nationalism and shared historical memory has penetrated the Czech Republic, serving as a “marketing brand” to spread Russia’s geopolitical influence during Putin’s rule. Through the Russian-language press, web platforms and social media, the author maps the actors and forms of the “Russian world” in the Czech Republic, whose background consists of part of the local Russian minority and local pro-Russian associations or initiatives. She pays particular attention to the nationalist motorcycle club Night Wolves (Nochnye volki) and the originally civic, but gradually becoming a state movement Immortal Regiment (Bessmertnyi polk), which revive and promote the myth of the Great Patriotic War in line with the Kremlin’s intentions and which establish their branches beyond the borders of Russia, including the Czech Republic.

Problems of Muslim Society in Russia Past and Present

<p class="06IsiAbstrak"><span lang="EN-GB">This article aims to provide an overview of the Muslim minority in Russia not living in a homogeneous environment. The Muslim community in this country is facing old and new problems at the same time. Ancient in the sense that members of this community who identify themselves with Islam have inhabited this vast land for centuries. However, they are considered young because Muslims are part of the modern Russian state. This paper seeks to place the changes experienced by Muslims in Russian society in the context of an actual historical framework. Post-Soviet Union development centered on infrastructure, economy, and society. Now, at a crucial moment, is the time to push intra-Islamic relations to a higher level. Only this allowed Islam to become an integral part of Russia's political identity.</span></p>

A Place of One’s Own: Pilgrimage and the Reinterpretation of Culture in Russia’s Ural Region


 This article engages with the negotiation of Russian history and culture, focussing on the concept of tradition. Instead of contesting the concept of tradition as it is used by the state authorities, members of the Muslim minority in Russia tend to indicate tradition to claim their own culture, distinct from a new national culture stressing Orthodox Christianity and Slavic origins. By undertaking a pilgrimage to sacred sites in the south of Perm Krai, Muslim believers from the Russian Urals reconnect with the land and help to restore a lived Muslim culture that has suffered from Soviet repression and which is mostly ignored by the more recent nation-building strategies.

GEOGRAPHY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO DECISION- MAKING IN FOREIGN POLICY(RUSSIA AND UKRAINE MODEL) ((RESEARCH ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF GEOGRAPHY WITH OTHER SCIENCES))

Geography is the science that studies all natural and human phenomena in one place Geography studies the natural factors that affected the land inhabited by man, Describes human populations in terms of their relationship to the environment Political geography is the study of political units and their problems from the point of view of geography, The survey studies the relief and climate areas that affect the conditions of states and the phenomena in them. As for the political decision, it is very measure that the state takes to prevent any interference in the affairs of its society, and the political decision is formulated in a thoughtful way to solve a specific problem or crisis that passes in the country The process of making and implementing decisions goes through multiple stages، starting with the preparatory stage, identifying the variables related to the problem to be studied, then choosing the goal and drawing the strategy (identifying alternatives)،then comes the decision-making stage،i.e. translating the decision into practical reality through actions، activities and work programs, Responsibility for the decision-making process is borne by a group of official and nonofficial bodies، the official bodies the constitution, then the legislative and executive authorities As for the unofficial bodies ، they include political parties, pressure groups، and public opinion،for political decisions to be correct, they must serve the public interest, be built on scientific foundation، and take in to account the objective circumstances..objective circumstances. Ukraine experienced a state of internal crises after the dissolution of the Soviet Union، as crises became represented by the dissolution of parliament and re-elections،which are frequent and accelerating events ،As the international Monetary Fund provided aid to reform the economic conditions of Ukraine after the transitional period it passed through،Ukraine became the coveted country and an open field for occupation by powerful countries. This is due to the weakness of Ukrainian politics. Ukraine distinguished location, which made it control the center of land and sea transportation between Asia and Europe،Russia decided that it was difficult to leave Ukraine to the west so Russia intervened militarily under the transfer from the Russian parliament on 28\2\2014 to protect Russian minorities and maintain influence in the city of Sevastopol, which is the last base in Crimea, The motive of the attack was to protect the region from the interference of other countries، to realize the dream of Russian to get on ports in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, and to save world trade routes where Russia's ships have been frozen for months in the Arctic annually. Russia made the decision to attack Ukraine، and the first thing it started was the bombing of the Donbas region، which is located in eastern Ukraine، which is characterized by its mineral wealth and the presence of coal mines ، and thus Russia worked to create a state of paralysis in the airports located in eastern and northern Ukraine. Keywords: Geography, Foreign Policy, Russia and Ukraine

Varieties of Tatar Esotericism in Post‐Soviet Russia

After the collapse of the USSR, intellectuals from traditionally Soviet Muslim ethnicities began the complicated process of rethinking their religious identities, political philosophies, and worldviews. Although Western scholars often present this process as an unproblematic “return to Islam,” the newly religious thinkers of the 1990s and 2000s engaged the rich philosophical universe of their time, incorporating, rejecting, and transforming elements of Russian and Western esotericism in their efforts to formulate answers for the contemporary world. This article focuses on the Tatars (the largest ethnic minority in Russia), whose writers sought not only to recover religion but to remake it in a form suitable for their post‐Soviet society.

The Ural Population Project. Demography and Culture From Microdata in a European-Asian Border Region

The Ural Population Project (URAPP) is built from individual level data transcriptions of 19th- to early 20th-century parish records and mid-19th-century census-like tax revisions manuscripts. This article discusses the source material, the contents, the history of creation and the strategy of the URAPP database and the outcome of the main research topics so far, including historical demography, Jewish studies, indigenous studies and studies of religious minorities in the Urals and Siberia. Our studies of the ethno-religious cultural landscape of the Urals and northwestern Siberia as well as participation in population history projects was more vital backgrounds than the traditional focus on aggregates. The over 65,000 vital events transcribed from parish records of Russian Orthodox Churches and minority religions in and around Ekaterinburg have been the basis for studies of mortality, nuptiality, religion and other characteristics. We found that the Jewish population kept their traditions and connections with relatives in the Pale of Settlement. Prisoners of WWI usually marrying within their own religious group. Infant mortality in Ekaterinburg was lower among Jews and the Catholics, minorities with higher education and western background, while the Orthodox majority exposed their newborn to extremely tough baptism. The burial records show cases of the Spanish flu in 1918–1919, but on a lower level than in the West, supporting recent theories that estimates of flu mortality may be too high. Based on the tax revisions, polygyny was officially recognized among the indigenous Siberian people. The strategy of the URAPP project has evolved from transcribing microdata about minorities towards covering the whole population.