For First Time Ever, More Muslims Marked End of Ramadan in St. Petersburg than Did in the Russian Capital, Statistics Show

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Mar. 31 – Muslims in the Russian Federation usually celebrate Id al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the holy month of Ramadan, by assembling in and around mosques. Until this year, Moscow, the city where the largest number of Muslims in that country live, has led these statistics; but this year, the northern capital St. Petersburg surpassed it.
    In Moscow. statistics gathered by Muslim organizations show, some 235,000 Muslims assembled at the city’s five mosques, including 80,000 at the Central Cathedral Mosque; but in St. Petersburg, where the number of Muslims is far smaller, more than 300,000 came out (ng.ru/faith/2025-03-30/3_9223_muslims.html).
    The number of Muslims in Moscow visiting mosques on this holiday in fact rose from 205,000 last year; but the figure for Muslims in St. Petersburg rose more rapidly. In reporting these statistics, Nezavisimaya Gazeta suggested that they may reflect greater anti-immigrant actions by the police in Moscow than in St. Petersburg.
    That is likely a part of the explanation, but this pattern highlights the fact that an increasing share of Muslims arriving in major Russian cities is going to St. Petersburg rather than to Moscow where anti-immigrant feelings have been more regularly whipped up by the authorities and that the northern capital is on its way to becoming a major center of Muslim life.
    That in turn means that the Muslim Spiritual Directorates (MSDs) both based in the northern capital and represented there are going to be ever more important and deserve at least as much attention as is routinely given to their counterparts in Moscow because in Islam, the number of participants in holiday celebrations is perhaps the best indication of influence.