Skip navigation
virn ajalhti

News

Siberian Mari language and culture may die out

Researchers are concerned about the decline of the Mari language in the Sverdlovsk Oblast, where the Mari population has fallen by 40 per cent over the past ten years and half of those of Mari ethnicity no longer speak the language. Linguist Marina Kutsayeva writes about this in the Tomsk Journal of Linguistic and Anthropological Studies.

17.08.2026

RAIPON lost its observer status with UNESCO

RAIPON, the representative organisation of Russia’s indigenous peoples, has lost its observer status with UNESCO at the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee.

17.08.2026

Karelian politician proposed increasing subsidies for the Veps

Olga Shmaenik, Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia, spoke at the “Dialogue Among Parliamentarians” forum in Salekhard. There, she proposed …

29.06.2026

Komi Voityr: municipal reform undermines Komi interests

Before the State Council of the Komi Republic adopted the draft law on the transition of local governments to a single-tier system of governance, Komi …

14.06.2026

Critics see centralisation in Komi municipal reform

The deputies of the Komi Republic adopted a resolution by a large majority to transition from a two-tier to a single-tier system of local government. …

13.06.2026

Nenets deputies want early retirement for chum workers

The deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug adopted a resolution to amend the federal law “On Pension Insurance” by proposing to …

11.06.2026

Yamal Nenets children back to tundra for school break

Summer vacation has begun in the schools of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and children from indigenous peoples attending boarding schools are being transported back to …

11.06.2026

"International" Finno-Ugric student forum in Mari El

The 13th International Finno-Ugric Student Forum, titled “The Richness of the Finno-Ugric Peoples,” took place in Yoshkar-Ola from 14 to 18 May. Why it was …

10.06.2026

Komi Republic plagued by economic and environmental problems

News from the Komi Republic in April and May have pointed to a steadily deteriorating economic situation in the republic, as well as increasingly widespread …

10.06.2026

106th anniversary of Republic of Karelia

The anniversary of the Republic of Karelia in Russia is 8 June, as the Karelian Workers’ Commune was established on that day in 1920. Background …

09.06.2026

Bill: indigenous peoples of Russia exempt from military service

On 30 April, Indigenous Peoples’ Day—which was celebrated for the first time this year in the Russian Federation—State Duma Deputy Fedot Tumusov (a Sakha from …

09.06.2026

Nina Zaitseva 80

On 25 May, linguist Nina Zaitseva, known as the “mother of the Veps written language”, celebrated her 80th birthday. Nina Zaitseva was born in 1946 …

08.06.2026