Historical and Memorial Activities of Rossotrudnichestvo Abroad: Results, Problems, and Prospects

Filimonova Kseniia Nikolaevna ORCID: 0000-0001-7602-1412 PhD student of the Russian History Department of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) 117198, Russia, Moscow, Miklukho-Maklaya str., 6 fili-ksu@yandex.ru

The author expresses gratitude and deep appreciation to the scientific supervisor, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor M.N. Moseikina, and the federal agency Rossotrudnichestvo for valuable advice and comments while working on this article.

Historical and cultural heritage has always been an important tool of Russia's foreign policy, contributing to the formation and strengthening of a positive image of the country in the world and contributing to an understanding of its historical development, role and place in world history. Therefore, preserving the memory of the historical heritage of our compatriots abroad becomes a priority task of the state in the context of spreading the "culture of abolition" of all Russian in the politics of some states and the demolition of Soviet monuments dedicated to the events of World War II.

The issues of cultural diplomacy and the use of historical heritage and places of memory as a resource of "soft power" in the foreign policy of states were considered both by foreign (P. Nora ^[1], J. Nye ^[2], A. Assman ^{[3, 4]}, H. Rius Uldemolins ^[5], etc.) and Russian researchers (O. S. Porshneva ^[6], V. F. Ershov ^[7], D. A. Zvyagina ^[8], M. M. Lebedeva ^[9], etc.).

The subject of this study is the historical and memorial activities abroad of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) as one of the tools of diplomacy of Russia's heritage. In his research, the author used a systematic approach, analyzing the problem from different points of view: historical, cultural and legal, as well as methods of analysis and synthesis.

Cultural and humanitarian diplomacy, which "manifests itself in the foreign information, socio-cultural space through the activities of information and cultural centers and other related institutions abroad," plays an important role "in expanding and strengthening the space of the Russian language and culture" ^{[10, p. 66]}.

The need to develop international cooperation in the field of preservation, restoration and protection of cultural values is stated in the Concept of Humanitarian Policy of the Russian Federation Abroad approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 09/05/2022 No. 611. In the context of the current geopolitical moment, it sets the task of preserving Russia's participation in the system of European cultural interaction and expanding cultural ties with the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

In relation to the history of international cooperation in the field of humanitarian relations, modern historiography uses the concept of "heritage diplomacy", which T. Winter characterizes as "a set of processes as a result of which the cultural and natural past, shared between countries and between states, becomes the subject of exchange, cooperation and forms of joint management" ^{[11, p. 1007]}.

An important part of Rossotrudnichestvo's activities is historical and memorial activities abroad. On the territory of modern foreign countries there are a large number of graves and memorials that are associated with the names of our compatriots – Russian and Soviet military and government figures, cultural and scientific figures. Since 2010, the Agency has been carrying out work on the maintenance and preservation of memorial cemeteries abroad, individual plots in common cemeteries and individual graves and other types of graves, with the exception of burial sites classified as military and new graves.

In its activities, the Agency is guided by a series of regulatory legal acts, among them: Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 09/06/2008 No. 1315 "On Certain Issues of Public Administration in the field of International Cooperation" and the regulations approved by him on the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation;  Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 05/31/2010 No. 379 "On Approval of the Rules for the Organization of Work on the Maintenance and Preservation of Burial Sites located Abroad that have Historical and Memorial significance for the Russian Federation"; Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 11.11.2010 No. 1948-r "On approval of the List of burial sites located Abroad that have historical significance for the Russian Federation-memorial significance"; order of Rossotrudnichestvo dated 06/02/2014 No. 0098-pr "On the Procedure for organizing and carrying out work on maintaining and preserving burial sites located abroad that have historical and memorial significance for the Russian Federation", etc.

Rossotrudnichestvo and its representative offices abroad (Russian Houses), together with the Government Commission for Compatriots Abroad (PCDSR), regularly updates the list of burial sites located there that have historical and memorial significance for the Russian Federation. The main selection criteria are: the historical significance of the contribution of the buried persons to science, culture, art, and the spiritual life of Russia and the states where the burial sites are located, and to the strengthening of bilateral relations.

To find and identify such burial sites, Rossotrudnichestvo and its foreign missions cooperate with volunteer and youth organizations, associations of compatriots abroad, as well as with the Russian and international expert community, including the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Federal Archival Agency (Rosarchiv), the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IRI RAS), the Russian The D.S. Likhachev Scientific Research Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage, the Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of the Russian Diaspora.

After the last update in 2020, the government List includes more than 90 graves located on the territory of 14 states (Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Egypt, Italy, Macedonia, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey, the Czech Republic and France). It should be noted that the List includes not only individual burials, but also entire "Russian" sections of cemeteries. Thus, the Russian sector of the city cemetery of Saint-Genevieve-de-Bois (France) has more than 5.5 thousand.  Russian graves, where famous personalities are buried (among them: ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, writer Ivan Bunin and film director Andrei Tarkovsky). There is also a single complex of historical and memorial monuments "Russian Necropolis" on the territory of the New Cemetery in Belgrade (Serbia), where representatives of the first and second waves of emigration are buried.

In order to preserve these burial sites, Russian homes abroad organize work on the installation and repair of tombstones, restoration work, pay for services in preparing initial permits and estimates, technical specifications in compliance with the requirements of the legislation of the country where the burial sites are located, as well as for the maintenance of burial sites in proper condition, including land lease.

Russian grave restoration works were carried out on the graves of architect N.V. Sultanov, M. Georgievsky, M.P. Posen, Prince Shakhovsky at the Russian Orthodox cemetery in the period 2013-2016 by the representative office of Rossotrudnichestvo in Germany together with the Berlin 09 Society, the Abert Herrmann & S?hne GmbH society and the German Cultural Society of Baden-Baden. grave grave of Prince I.S. Vasilchikov in the cemetery of Baden-Baden, graves of V.D. Nabokov, N.P. Bogdanov-Belsky, M.O. Eisenstein, A.V. Krivoshein in the Russian Orthodox cemetery in Berlin. Russian Russian Necropolis complex burial and restoration works were completed in July 2014 at the New Cemetery in Belgrade, which took place in several stages with the support of Gazprom Neft and a specially created non-profit organization Foundation for the Maintenance, Restoration and Preservation of the Complex of Historical and Memorial Monuments "Russian Necropolis in Belgrade". In January 2021, the restoration of monuments on the graves of the artist K. Bryullov and Princess M. Obolenskaya at the non-Catholic historical cemetery "Testaccio" in Rome came to an end.

Financing of the work on maintaining the graves in proper condition is mainly due to funds received by Russian houses from authorized activities. Since 2019, it has become possible to receive budget allocations for the organization of work on the restoration and preservation of civil graves abroad (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 739 dated June 7, 2019 "On Amendments to the Rules for the Organization of Work on the Maintenance and Preservation of Burial Sites located Abroad that have historical and Memorial Significance for the Russian Federation"). It should be noted that the limited resources of Rossotrudnichestvo's representative offices and the complexity of the procedure for obtaining funds from the federal budget of Russia make it difficult to carry out large-scale restoration work, which a number of burials need. Rossotrudnichestvo's offices mainly carry out measures to maintain graves, including cleaning tombstones, partial restoration of inscriptions on steles, garbage collection and landscaping.

Large-scale restoration work of graves and "Russian" necropolises abroad in isolated cases is carried out at the expense of funds raised by funds. So, in 2008, with the assistance of the International Public Foundation for the Promotion of the Spiritual and Moral Revival of Modern Society, the Foundation of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called restored a memorial to 342 Russians who died in 1921 during the stay of the army of General P.N. Wrangel on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey. Russian Russian Heritage Foundation, in turn, in 2021 paid the debts for the lease and maintenance of 37 graves in the "Russian" necropolis of the New Cemetery of Belgrade, and in 2022 financed the repair of the burial of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire (1906-1910) A.P. Izvolsky and artists M.F. Larionov and N.S. Goncharova in France. However, such interaction between Rossotrudnichestvo and partner organizations is non-systemic in nature.

In addition, Rossotrudnichestvo and its representative offices pay attention to measures to popularize the Russian historical and memorial heritage abroad, preserve the historical memory of the exploits of our great compatriots, including through the creation of memorial routes, organization of work with the expert community, support and preservation of the Russian language abroad.

One of the goals of Rossotrudnichestvo's memorial policy is to consolidate Russian compatriots abroad, promote the preservation of their national identity and ties with their homeland. Thus, in order to preserve and maintain in proper condition other Russian graves at the Testaccio cemetery in Italy, in 2015, for the first time, the potential of the volunteer movement was actively used. The involvement of the RIM youth association in practical work on the preservation of the Russian historical and memorial heritage is of great historical, patriotic and educational importance.

            In recent years, Rossotrudnichestvo has carried out a lot of work on the search, inventory and preservation of burial sites of historical and memorial significance for Russia and the popularization of historical memory of Russian compatriots abroad. At the same time, it should be recognized that this area of activity of Rossotrudnichestvo requires additional funds and efforts.

            Firstly, a systematic approach to the issue of including new burial sites in the List is important. It is advisable to create expert councils based on the Agency and Russian Houses with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, embassies and consulates, historians and art historians who could assess the contribution of our compatriots buried in different countries; after which, on a regular basis, to select burials.  

Secondly, the issue of financing mechanisms for major restoration and restoration works needs to be worked out. To carry out this type of events, it is optimal to use public-private partnership tools based on the best practices implemented both in Russia (for example, in the Kaluga, Moscow, Tula regions) and abroad. With such cooperation, the state performs administrative and supervisory functions, and the private partner performs executive functions ^{[12, p. 137]}. In this regard, it is important to develop mechanisms for interaction with foundations and partner organizations, in particular with the Russian Diaspora Heritage Foundation and the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, in order to develop cooperation on a systematic basis.

Thirdly, it is necessary to develop action protocols for the Agency's representative offices that guarantee the safety of burials after the completion of a comprehensive restoration and take into account the norms of the legislation of the countries where the burial sites are located.

Finally, it is important to improve the tools for popularizing historical memory of the Russian diaspora, for which to develop cultural and educational programs (in offline and online formats) together with the scientific community for both local residents and compatriots of different ages.