Paul Goble
Staunton, April 15 – Even though Russia’s population is stagnant or even declining, that country has been forced to open more cemeteries and crematoria over the last decade, a reflection of both the aging of the population and losses from Putin’s war in Ukraine, the Russian government says.
Between 2015 and 2025, the number of cemeteries in Russia rose from 72,760 to 73,833 up by more than a thousand and the number of crematoria rose by 33, the government’s statistical arm said; but what is interesting is the pattern, which highlights the differences between the cities and rural areas (mk.ru/social/2026/04/15/v-rossii-rastet-chislo-kladbishh-i-krematoriev.html).
In Moscow city, the number of cemeteries actually declined by one over the decade, while in Moscow oblast, it fell by 22 to 1495, with those closed the reflection of rising land values and an urban population less committed to living according to the dictates of the Russian Orthodox Church which opposes cremation (saintjohnchurch.org/can-orthodox-christians-be-cremated/).
Beyond the capital’s ring road where the increase in land prices has been less and the commitment to Orthodox principles remains stronger, the number of cemeteries has grown while that of crematoria has remained constant or even declined, yet another indication that Putin’s “traditional Russian values” are in this case followed primarily in rural areas.
As urbanization continues, those values at least as measured by this metric are likely to decline still further overall, with the declining numbers of people in the rural areas still adhering them but those in the cities turning away, a trend that can be anything but welcomed by the Putin regime.
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