Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree setting out Russia’s new “national policy strategy” through 2036.

The document describes the current state of interethnic relations in Russia as “stable.” It says that for 92 percent of Russians, their main sense of identity is a “shared Russian civic identity” (rather than, for example, religious or ethnic). More than 75 percent of respondents are reportedly satisfied with the state of interethnic relations in the country.

According to the decree, Russia has undergone “significant institutional and structural changes” since 2012 — when the previous national policy strategy took effect — that have helped strengthen the unity of the Russian nation.

But the Kremlin argues that new challenges now confront the country — challenges that could threaten national security “if not adequately addressed.” Among the supposed risks are:

• efforts by “unfriendly states” to destabilize interethnic relations and sow division in Russian society;
• attempts to import foreign interethnic conflicts into Russia;
• attempts to spread the ideologies of terrorism, extremism, neo-Nazism, and “Russophobic views”;
• a “growing Russophobia in the international arena,” including efforts to discredit the Russian language and Russian culture;
• the “intensification” of attempts to distort “historical truth,” including the memory of the Second World War;
• the spread of anti-Russian propaganda in the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics,” as well as in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which Russia claimed to annex in 2022;
• the use of NGOs to advance the interests of foreign states.

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Putin’s decree warns that insufficient action on these fronts could harm national security. It lays out a series of priorities in response:

• protecting and developing the Russian language and promoting it as a lingua franca among Russia’s many ethnic groups. This includes encouraging young people to use standard literary Russian and countering “excessive” use of foreign loanwords;
• cultivating civic consciousness among children and young people. The document suggests doing this by ensuring “the presence of the state symbols of the Russian Federation in all spheres of public life,” expanding instruction in local and national history, and holding public celebrations that “foster a sense of community and belonging to the country’s history and achievements”;
• safeguarding “historical truth” and historical memory, as well as “traditional Russian spiritual, moral, and cultural-historical values,” including the ideals of “patriotism and service to the Fatherland,” and increasing public interest in the study of Russian history.

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The decree repeatedly singles out the four “new regions” in Ukraine — the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics,” and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. It calls for encouraging both young people and adults there to participate in nationwide contests and civic initiatives. It also instructs the Russian government to support training programs for teachers, as well as “cultural workers and archivists,” in these territories.

The strategy also sets expectations for Russia’s international outreach. Authorities are tasked with fostering an “objective perception” of Russia abroad — specifically, an image of the country as a democratic state governed by the rule of law and committed to guaranteeing equal rights and freedoms.

The document separately underscores the need to strengthen “the unifying role of the Russian people as the state-forming nation.” It proposes doing this through educational and public-outreach projects, support for folk-art ensembles, and efforts to maintain the interest of foreign nationals living in Russia in Russian culture.

The strategy sets several benchmarks the government is expected to meet by 2036:

• a level of “shared Russian civic identity” of at least 95 percent;
• at least 85 percent of citizens giving positive assessments of relations between different ethnic groups;
• at least 80 percent of citizens satisfied with the fulfillment of their “ethnocultural needs”;
• at least 90 percent of citizens reporting no ethnic or linguistic discrimination;
• and the number of “Russian citizens” living in the annexed regions and participating in nationwide events should be no less than 2.56 million.

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