Ethnic Russians Declined in Number by More than Five Million between 2010 and 2021, Newly Released Census Figures Show

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Jan. 5 – Even though the population of the Russian Federation increased slightly between 2010 and 2021, newly released Russian census data show, the number of ethnic Russians living within the current borders of the Russian Federation fell from 111,016,896 to 105,579,179, a decline of 5,437,717 – or almost five percent.

            That happened despite the Anschluss of Ukraine’s Crimea which brought additional ethnic Russians under Moscow’s rule and the counting as Russians of people who declared that they had a different national identity (nazaccent.ru/content/39783-chislennost-russkih-v-rossii-za-11-let-sokratilas-na-5-mln-chelovek.html).

            Among those whom Rosstat counted as ethnic Russians despite these declarations were the Albaza, the Drevlyans, the Krivicheys, the Kubans, the Kulugurs, the Lipchans, the Meshcheryaks, the Molokane, the Nuucha, the Rusaks, the rusicheys, the Russko-Ustins, the Siberians, the Skobars, the Old Believers, the Chaldos, and the Yakutyans.

            Some Russians may have been assimilated by other groups, but the most important factor almost certainly is a weakening of attachment to Russian identity and the dramatic increase in the number of residents of the Russian Federation who declared no nationality at all: one in every nine residents in the last census (zemfort1983.livejournal.com/1440919.html). 

            The decline in the number of ethnic Russians listed in the latest census does not mean that non-Russians inside the current borders of the Russian Federation are not at risk given the Russianizing and Russifying policies of the Kremlin. But it does mean that the ethnic Russians are at risk as well, albeit in ways few have paid much attention to.