Срби у Русији Srbi u Rusiji | |
---|---|
Total population | |
Regions with significant populations | |
mainly Moscow, Stavropol Krai | |
Languages | |
Russian and Serbian | |
Religion | |
Eastern Orthodox Church | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Serbs in Ukraine |
There is a community of Serbs in Russia (Russian: Сербы в России; Serbian: Срби у Русији, romanized: Srbi u Rusiji), also known as Russian Serbs (Russian: Российские сербы; Serbian: Руски Срби, romanized: Ruski Srbi), which includes Russian citizens of ethnic Serb descent or Serbian-born people residing in the country.
Main articles: Serbian Hussar Regiment, Slavo-Serbia, and New Serbia (historical province) |
After the Ottoman invasion of Serbia in the 14th century, Serbian refugees found refuge in Russia.[3] Lazar the Serb (built the first mechanical public clock in Russia) and Pachomius the Serb (hagiographer and translator) were some of the notable Serbs in Russian medieval history.[4] Elena Glinskaya (1510–1538), the mother of Russian emperor Ivan the Terrible (r. 1547–84), was maternally Serbian.[5] The Orthodox worship of Saint Sava was established in Russia in the 16th century.[3]
In the 1750s, in a re-settlement initiated by Austrian Colonel Ivan Horvat, a vast number of Orthodox Serbs, mostly from territories controlled by the Habsburg monarchy (the Serbian Grenzers), settled in Russia's military frontier region of New Serbia (with the centre in Novomirgorod, mainly in the territory of present-day Kirovohrad Oblast of Ukraine), as well as in Slavo-Serbia (now mainly the territory of the Luhansk Oblast of Ukraine). In 1764, both territorial entities were incorporated in Russia's Novorossiya Governorate. Serbs continued to settle in Russian lands, and many, such as Sava Vladislavich, Nikolay Depreradovich, and Peter Tekeli, became high ranking generals and imperial nobility.
During the Napoleonic Wars, many Russian generals were either Serbian-born or of Serbian descent, including Georgi Emmanuel, Peter Ivelich, Nikolay Vuich, Ivan Shevich, and multiple others. The most esteemed Serb in the service of the Russian Empire at the time of the Napoleonic Wars was Count Mikhail Miloradovich, a leading commander during the French invasion of Russia and governor-general of Saint Petersburg.
Throughout the existence of the Soviet Union, many Serbs in Russia continued to play prominent roles in society. Notable figures at the time include Admiral of the Fleet and Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Kuznetsov and renowned sculptor and Hero of Socialist Labour Yevgeny Vuchetich, responsible for The Motherland Calls, which was the largest statue in the world at the time of its construction.