Assyrians in Russia (; ) number 14,000 according to the 2002 Russian census.

History

Assyrians came to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in three main waves: *The first wave was after the

Treaty of Turkmenchay The Treaty of Turkmenchay (; ) was an agreement between Qajar Iran and the Russian Empire, which concluded the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828). It was second of the series of treaties (the first was the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan and the last, the ...

in 1828, which delineated a border between

and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Many Assyrians suddenly found themselves under Russian sovereignty, and thousands of relatives crossed the border to join them. *The second wave was a result of the repression and violence during and after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Assyrians were represented by the All-Russian Union of Assyrians "Khoyad-Atur" from 1924 to 1928. *The third wave came after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when Moscow unsuccessfully tried establishing a satellite state in Iranian Kurdistan. Soviet troops withdrew in 1946 and left the Assyrians exposed to the same kind of retaliation that they had suffered from the Turks 30 years earlier. Again, many Assyrians found refuge in the Soviet Union, this time mainly in the cities. From 1937 to 1959, the Assyrian population in the USSR grew by 587.3%. The Soviets in the thirties oppressed the Assyrians' religion and persecuted religious and other leaders. The Assyrians have tended to assimilate in recent years, but their cultural and ethnic identity has strengthened through centuries of hardships, and they have found new expression under

Glasnost ''Glasnost'' ( ; , ) is a concept relating to openness and transparency. It has several general and specific meanings, including a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information and the inadmissi ...

Current situation

According to the 2002 Russian census, there were 14,000 Assyrians in Russia. 13,300 people (95% of all Assyrians) spoke Syriac as their native language. In 1998, the Mat Maryam temple was built in Moscow.Михайлов, С. С. "Московский приход храма Март-Марьям Ассирийской церкви Востока" ''Московский регион: этноконфессиональная ситуация''. Москва: ИЭА РАН, 2000.

References

{{Immigration to Russia Ethnic groups in Russia