Remote Research in Russia: Part Nine

Russia’s archival system is based on administrative-territorial units. Research is always tied to a specific location where an individual was born, lived, served, or died. At the same time, while key primary sources remain in the custody of government institutions, researchers and the government have developed vast search platforms that often contain enough information to make field research unnecessary.

Russian legislation guarantees equal access to archival holdings for Russian citizens and foreign researchers. The primary legal framework at play is Federal Law No. 125-FZ On Archives in the Russian Federation. Article 24 of the law explicitly establishes users’ right to access archival documents.

The key factor in genealogical research is the age of the records and where they are held.

Records More Than 100 Years Old (Prerevolutionary Period)
Under Article 77 of Federal Law No. 143-FZ On Civil Status Acts, civil-registration books are retained by registry offices (known as ZAGS) for exactly 100 years from the date of their creation, after which they are transferred to state archives for permanent preservation.

Once transferred to state archives, imperial parish registers, revision lists, and confession records become fully open. Any foreign researcher may examine them remotely or in a reading room without providing proof of kinship.

Records Held by Registry Offices (Less Than 100 Years Old)
Records from the Soviet and contemporary periods, including birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates that are less than 100 years old, remain in the custody of ZAGS authorities.

Access is strictly restricted. Such records are provided only to relatives or their legal representatives upon submission of a documented chain of notarized records proving direct kinship.

Soviet-Era Records in State Archives (The 75-Year Rule)
If the research concerns other biographical sources, such as employment files, Communist Party questionnaires, or residential registration records, access is governed not by the legislation on civil-status records but by Article 25 of Federal Law No. 125-FZ On Archives in the Russian Federation.

Restrictions on information constituting a personal or family secret remain in effect for 75 years from the date of a document’s creation. Older records may generally be examined freely without proof of kinship.

Before contacting archives, researchers should gather as much information as possible from family documents and interviews with relatives.
To work effectively with Russian databases, researchers should ideally possess at least two of the following:

• the ancestor’s full name in Russian (for women, the maiden name);
• the exact year and place of birth or residence (historical province and district);
• social estate (before 1917) or occupation (during the Soviet period);
• religious affiliation (for the prerevolutionary period, such as Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Judaism, or Islam).

Before submitting formal requests, a substantial amount of information can often be uncovered through publicly available digital resources.

• Familio (https://familio.org): Familio is one of Russia’s leading online genealogy services. It combines a large directory of settlements and their historical administrative affiliations with databases of individuals, archival documents, and family trees. The platform allows users to search for individuals sharing the same surname and connect with researchers working in the same region.
• VGD All-Russia Family Tree (https://vgd.ru): VGD is the oldest genealogy forum and the largest genealogy encyclopedia in Russia. Over the course of more than two decades, users have accumulated vast quantities of materials from regional archives. Researchers can often find ready-made lists of residents from specific villages or obtain advice from specialists familiar with difficult regions.
• Memory of the People/OBD Memorial (https://pamyat-naroda.ru): This large-scale project of the Russian Ministry of Defense contains millions of digitized records relating to soldiers who served during World War II. These include award citations, casualty reports, records of wounded, killed, and missing persons, often with information on places of conscription and close relatives. 
• Memory of the Heroes of the Great War (https://gwar.mil.ru): A similar large-scale resource dedicated to soldiers who served in the Imperial Russian Army in World War I.
• Open List (https://ru.openlist.wiki): The most comprehensive database of victims of political repression in the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1991. Built on the wiki model, it frequently includes archival reference numbers of investigation files.

Once open databases have been exhausted, research generally follows one of two paths depending on the historical period involved.

Soviet and Contemporary Periods (Less Than 100 Years Ago)
These records remain in the custody of ZAGS authorities. Researchers living abroad may submit requests by sending an official letter through Russian Post to the regional registry office administration responsible for the given federal subject (region). Detailed requests may also be submitted by email.

Prerevolutionary Period (19th Century to 1917)
Parish registers and revision lists have been transferred to regional state archives. Requests should be made to the archive responsible for the territory to which the settlement belonged during the Russian Empire, such as the State Archive of Tver Region or the State Archive of Yaroslavl Region.

Most regional archives accept requests by email or through online forms addressed to the archive director. Many have also created their own information systems that provide remote access to digitized documents either free of charge or for a modest fee.

• St. Petersburg Archives (https://spbarchives.ru): A classic digital-access system. Large collections of parish registers, census records, and Communist Party documents are available online through short-term subscriptions.
• Central State Archive of Moscow (via the My Family service and https://yandex.ru/archive): This platform uses AI-based handwriting recognition to process prerevolutionary parish records and allows users to search digitized collections from Moscow and several other regions, including Orenburg, Veliky Novgorod, and Pskov.

When online research reaches its limits, for example because a regional archive has not been digitized or because files require in-person examination, hiring a local researcher becomes necessary.

Work through representatives is regulated by the Rules Governing Reading Rooms in State Archives of the Russian Federation. For a third-party researcher or private genealogist to work on your behalf, request files, and order copies, a power of attorney (doverennost’) is required. The legal requirements depend on the category of records involved.

Open Records More Than 100 Years Old
A simple written power of attorney is generally sufficient. It should include the passport details of both parties and specify the scope of the representative’s authority, including access to particular archival collections and the right to obtain copies. Some regional archives, despite federal guidelines, require notarized powers of attorney. Researchers should verify local requirements before beginning work.

Confidential Soviet-Era Records
For registry-office records, employment files, or investigation files relating to victims of political repression, a notarized power of attorney is required. Foreign citizens may obtain it in one of two ways:

• Through a Russian consulate in their country of residence. Such powers of attorney are issued in Russian and require no further certification inside Russia.
• Through a local notary abroad. In this case, the document must bear an apostille if the country is a party to the Hague Convention. A certified Russian translation of both the power of attorney and the notarial certification must then be prepared either in Russia or through a Russian consulate.

For registry-office matters, the power of attorney should explicitly grant the representative the right to obtain duplicate certificates and civil-status records, request amendments, and examine archival materials.

The representative must also provide the complete set of notarized documents, including translations and apostilles where required, proving direct kinship with the individual whose records are being sought.

Researchers conducting remote genealogy research should always account for historical geography. The boundaries of Imperial Russian provinces, Soviet administrative units, and the modern Russian Federation often differ substantially.
A village currently located in Smolensk Region, for example, may have belonged to Kaluga Province in the 19th century. Establishing the correct historical administrative unit through services such as Familio or reference works is therefore essential.

Researchers should also bear in mind that state archives provide genealogical and thematic research services for fees based on set pricing tables. In heavily burdened regions, waiting times for research requests can range from three to nine months.

Finally, direct payment for archive services using cards issued by foreign banks remains difficult. Foreign researchers frequently rely on intermediaries, local genealogists, or international money-transfer systems that continue to operate in Russia.