Scouting and Guiding in Russia: Difference between revisions

'''Scouting and Guiding in Russia''' comprises several dozen [[Scouting|Scout]] associations, based on religion, politics and geography.

[[File:Scouting_in_Russia_postcard_1914.jpg|thumb|early postcard of Scouting in Russia]]

In 1908, [[Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell|Baden-Powell]]'s book ''Scouting for Boys'' came out in Russia by the order of [[Tsar]] [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]]. It was called ''Young Scout'' ({{lang|ru|Юный Разведчик}}, ''Yuny Razvedchik''). On {{OldStyleDate|April 30|1909|April 17}}, a young officer, Colonel [[Oleg Pantyukhov]], organized the first Russian Scout troop ''Beaver'' ({{lang|ru|Бобр}}, ''Bobr'') in [[Pavlovsk]], a town near [[Tsarskoye Selo]]. In 1910, Baden-Powell visited Nicholas II in Tsarskoye Selo and they had a very pleasant conversation, as the Tsar remembered it. In 1914, Pantyukhov established a [[society]] called ''Russian Scout'' ({{lang|ru|Русский Скаут}}, ''Russkiy Skaut''). The first Russian Scout campfire was lit in the woods of Pavlovsk Park in Tsarskoye Selo. A Russian Scout song exists to remember this event. Scouting spread rapidly across Russia and into [[Siberia]], and by 1916, there were about 50,000 Scouts in Russia. Nicholas' son [[Tsarevich]] [[Tsarevich Alexei of Russia|Aleksei]] was a Scout himself.  

[[File:Russkiy Skaut.svg|thumb|140px|traditional Russian membership badge, still used by several organizations]]

The organization '''Русский Скаут''' then went into [[Scouts-in-Exile|exile]], and continued in many countries where fleeing White Russian émigrés settled, establishing groups in [[France]], [[Serbia]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Argentina]], [[Chile]], and [[Paraguay]]. A much larger mass of thousands of Russian Scouts moved through [[Vladivostok]] to the east into [[Manchuria]] and south into [[China]].  

[[File:Russian Scout Jamboree Moscow 2000.png|thumb|140px|Russian Jamboree badge]]

The Scout movement began to reemerge and was reborn within Russia in 1990, when relaxation of government restrictions allowed youth organizations to be formed to fill the void left by the Pioneers, with various factions competing for recognition. Some former Pioneer leaders have also formed Scout groups, and there is some controversy as to their motivations in doing so.

=== Regional and interregional members of the nationwide organizations ===

* Brotherhood (Federation) of Orthodox Scouts (BPS; Братство (Федерация) Православных Следопытов (скаутов)); 2,000 members

* Russian Union of Scouts (RUS; Русский Союз Скаутов); 1,500 members

* League of YMCA-Scouts of [[Saint Petersburg]] (LSSP; Лига скаутов YMCA Санкт-Петербурга); 400 members [http://scout-spb.narod.ru/main.htm]

[[File:Polar Bear Scout (Siberian Association of Scouts).png|thumb|140px|The ''Polar Bear Scout'', the highest rank of the Siberian Association of Scouts.]]

* Organization of Russian Young Pathfinders (ORYuR; Организация Российских Юных Разведчиков); 2,200 members  

NORS-R is presently active in Karelia, St. Petersburg, [[Murmansk Oblast]], Volgograd Oblast, Archangelsk Oblast, [[Togliatti]], Novgorod Oblast, Kaliningrad Oblast, Moscow, Perm, [[Sverdlovsk Oblast]], [[Ivanovo Oblast]], [[Voronesh]], [[Bashkortostan]] and Saratov.

* [[Voronezh Oblast|Voronezh Regional]] Social Children's Organization of Scouts (VRODOS; Воронежская Региональная Общественная Детская Организация Скаутов); 200 members; [http://vons.vrn.ru/]

* [[Irkutsk Oblast|Irkutsk Provincial]] Public Organization of Children and Young People "Baikal Scout" (IOOODiM; Иркутская Областная Общественная Организация Детей и Молодежи "Байкальский Скаут"); 2,000 members [http://scout.irk.ru]

RAS/N is presently active in [[Amur Oblast|Amur]], [[Astrakhan Oblast|Astrakhan]], [[Bryansk Oblast|Bryansk]], [[Chelyabinsk Oblast|Chelyabinsk]], [[Irkutsk Oblast|Irkutsk]], [[Kaliningrad Oblast|Kaliningrad]], [[Kaluga Oblast|Kaluga]], [[Kirov Oblast|Kirov]], [[Kostroma Oblast|Kostroma]], [[Lipetsk Oblast|Lipetsk]], [[Magadan Oblast|Magadan]] (which has a relationship with the [[Scouting in Alaska|Western Alaska Council]] of the Boy Scouts of America), [[Moscow Oblast|Moscow]], [[Murmansk Oblast|Murmansk]], [[Nizhny Novgorod Oblast|Nizhny Novgorod]], [[Rostov Oblast|Rostov]], [[Tambov Oblast|Tambov]], [[Vladimir Oblast|Vladimir]], [[Voronezh Oblast|Voronezh]], and [[Yaroslavl Oblast]]s, and in [[Altai Krai|Altai]] and [[Primorsky Krai]]s. A [[Eurasia Foundation]] grant was awarded in July 1998 to the North Eastern Scout Council of Magadan Oblast "Podvig" to develop youth organizations in Magadan Oblast.

* Association of the Scouts of the [[Moscow Oblast]] (ASMO; Ассоциация Скаутов Московской Области); 400 members [http://www.egorscout.ru/]

* Association of the Scouts of the [[Penza Oblast]] (ASPO; Ассоциация Скаутов Пензенской области); 1,300 members

Scouting is becoming familiar in non-Russian parts of the federation, and is being developed in several ethnic republics and subdivisions. Those where growth is documented are marked after the republic name.[http://www.scouts.ru/modules/units/]

*[[File:Bandera Khanti mansi.svg|20px]] [[Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug]]

The affiliation of the following associations is unknown, or they are independent regional bodies:

** [[Izhevsk]] Scout Organization (ISO; Ижевская скаутская организация); 200 members

The [[Scout Motto]] is ''Будь готов'' (Bud' Gotov, ''Be Prepared'' in [[Russian language|Russian]]. The Russian noun for a single Scout is {{lang|ru|''Скаут''}}, but can alternately be {{lang|ru|''Разведчик''}} or {{lang|ru|''Навигатор''}} depending on the organization. As {{lang|ru|''Разведчик''}} also carries the connotation of ''spy'', now often perceived as negative in the post-Soviet period, many now refer to themselves as {{lang|ru|''Скаут''}} or {{lang|ru|''Навигатор''}}, the more neutral term for the original meaning, an advance party sent to reconnoiter the terrain, similar to [[pathfinder]] or [[explorer]].

The highest Russian Scout distinction is known as the '''Order of the Bronze Beaver'''.

In addition, there are USA Girl Scouts Overseas in [[Moscow]], serviced by way of USAGSO headquarters in [[New York]]; as well as Cub Scout Pack 3950 and Boy Scout Troop 500, both of Moscow, and Cub Scout Pack 36 of Irkutsk. Russia is in a peculiar position (as is Norway), as American Scouts there may be linked either to the [[Direct Service]] branch of the Boy Scouts of America, which supports units around the world, or to the Horizon District of the [[Transatlantic Council]], which supports units in west-and-central Europe, the Near East and North Africa, at the discretion of the individual pack or troop.

[[File:RBST.jpg|left|thumb|100px|Network Russia Scout Fellowship badge in Russian]]

[[File:Network Russia Scout Fellowship badge.png|thumb|Network Russia Scout Fellowship badge]]

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  File:All-Russian National Scouting Organization.svg|All-Russian National Scouting Organisation

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*[[Scouting in displaced persons camps]]

<references />

; Portals

* [http://www.scouts.ru/ scouts.ru] - Independent portal covering most organizations