The Union of Slavic Communities of the Slavic Native Belief is one of the largest Russian organisations of Slavic Native Faith groups, established in 1997, and officially recognised by the government in 2014.
History
The Union of Slavic Native Belief Communities was established in 1997 by initiative of three constituent communities from Moscow, Kaluga and Obninsk. On 19 July 1997 Vadim Stanislavovich Kazakov from Kaluga's community was elected as the leader of the USC SNB. On 21 July 2011 Kazakov resigned and Maksim Ionov became his successor through a vote held by the veche on 23 July. Annually, on Perun's Day the "All-Slavic Veche" takes place in Kaluga. The assembly deals with issues including the further widening of the organisation, the cooperation with other organisations, and also the nominations of the chief and of the high priesthood. Hundreds of representatives of many Slavic communities scattered throughout Russia come to the yearly veche. In April 2011, the USC SNB bought a 4,77-hectares plot of land just five kilometres away from the city of Kaluga, on the left bank of the river Kaluzhka, located in the village of Krasotinka, with the purpose of building a temple. In 2014, the USC SNB was officially registered by the government of Russia as an interregional organisation for the development of Slavic culture. On 22 June 2015, the day of summer solstice, the Temple of the Fire of Svarozich was officially opened in the village of Krasotynka.
Ideology
The union claims to represent Slavic Native Faith, that is to say the revival of historical Slavic religion, upon which indigenous Slavic customs and traditions rely. The organisation aims at the consolidation of Slavic Native Faith communities across the different Slavic states, as well as the cooperation with non-Slavic modern Pagan organisations in Europe, the United States and Canada. The USC SNF requires believers in Slavic Native Faith to be genealogically Slavs.
Some organisations branched out of the Union of Slavic Native Faith Communities due to ideological differences. The original Obninsk and Moscow communities left the USC SNB in 2002, on the occasion of the Bittsa Accord, establishing the Circle of Pagan Tradition. In 2009, the USC SNB, the CPT and the Circle of Veles issued a joint statement condemning Ynglism. In 2012 the same three organisations signed an "Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Priests", which defined common criteria for the ordination of Slavic Native Faith's priesthood.
