Scouting in Russia

Scouting in Russia comprises several dozen Scout associations, based on religion, politics and geography.

In 1908, Baden Powell's book Scouting for Boys came out in Russia by the order of Tsar Nicholas II. It was called Young Scout (Юный Разведчик, Yuny Razvedchik). On April 30 1909 [O. S. April 17 1909], a young officer, Colonel Oleg Pantyukhov, organized the first Russian Scout troop Beaver (Бобр, Bobr) in Pavlovsk, a town near Tsarskoye Selo, St. Petersburg region. From 30 December 1910, Baden Powell was in Russia for a week or more, and visited Nicholas II in Tsarskoye Selo; they had a very pleasant conversation, as the Tsar remembered it. In 1914, Pantyukhov established a society called Russian Scout (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 Aleksei was a Scout himself. With the advent of communism after the October Revolution of 1917, and during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1922, most of the Scoutmasters and many Scouts fought in the ranks of the White Army and interventionists against the Red Army. In Soviet Russia the Scouting system started to be replaced by ideologically altered Scout like organizations, such as "ЮК" ("Юные Коммунисты", or young communists; pronounced as yuk), that were created since 1918. There was a purge of the Scout leaders, many of whom perished under the Bolsheviks. Those Scouts who did not wish to accept the new Soviet system either left Russia for good, like Pantyukhov and others, or went underground. However, clandestine Scouting did not last long. On May 19, 1922 all of those newly created organizations were united into the Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union, which existed until 1990. From that date, Scouting in the USSR was banned. However, some features of Scouting remained in the modified form. The Scout motto "Bud' Gotov" ("Be Prepared") was modified into the Pioneer motto "Vsegda Gotov" ("Always Prepared"). Mention of God was removed, replaced by Lenin and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. There were no separate organizations for girls and boys, and many new features were introduced, like Young Pioneer Palaces.

The organization then went into 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. Colonel Pantyukhov, Chief Scout of Russia, first resided in France and then moved to the United States, where large troops of Russian Scouts were established in cities such as San Francisco, Burlingame, California, and Los Angeles. He returned to Nice, France where he died. Russian Scouting was recognized as a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, in exile, from 1928 to 1945. Russian Scouting eventually split into two organizations over ideological differences. These are the modern day National Organization of Russian Scouts (NORS) and Organization of Russian Young Pathfinders (ORYuR/ОРЮР). As neither organization was created ex nihilo, they may both be considered legitimate successors to the Русский Скаут heritage.

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. The World Organization of the Scout Movement asked the Scout Association of the United Kingdom to assist the Scout Organizations in the Moscow and Saint Petersburg regions. Other national Scout organizations are involved in helping other regions; the Boy Scouts of America are involved in the regions to the east of the Urals, for instance. As with many European nations, several Scout associations were actively supporting the growth of Scouting in Russia, and served Scouts with regards to persuasion of faith, national orientation and geography. At the end of the 1990s, several of the associations formed the All Russian National Scouting Organisation (ARNSO) (Всероссийская Национальная Скаутская Организация (ВНСО), Vserossiyskaya Natsionalnaya Skautskaya Organizatsiya (VNSO)), guided by WOSM. In 2000, it became a member of WOSM. 14 Russian Scouts were invited to take part in the 19th World Scout Jamboree in 1999. Russia was represented 2003 at the 20th World Scout Jamboree in Thailand. 504 Scouts from the association Russian Association of Scouts/Navigators took part in the 21st World Scout Jamboree in 2007. The membership was transferred in 2004 to the RAS/N, following the disintegration of ARNSO. RAS/N is also an umbrella federation of different associations, some of them former members of ARNSO.

The Scout Motto is Будь готов (Bud' Gotov, Be Prepared in Russian. The Russian noun for a single Scout is Скаут, but can alternately be Разведчик or Навигатор depending on the organization. As Разведчик also carries the connotation of spy, now often perceived as negative in the post Soviet period, many now refer to themselves as Скаут or 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 City; as well as Cub Scout Pack 3950 and Boy Scout Troop 500, both of Moscow, linked to the Direct Service branch of the Boy Scouts of America, which supports units around the world. There are also British Girl Guides served by British Guides in Foreign Countries in Sakhalin.

Early in 1991, the Scout Association and the Boy Scouts of America were asked to assist the World Bureau to encourage the development of Russian Scouting, with the UK assisting in European Russia, and the BSA assisting in Siberia. In 1991 an experimental camp was held in Odesa, Ukraine by UK Scouts. In 1992, an international training course for 17 Russian leaders was held at the International Office at Gilwell Park and a study visit to Moscow and Saint Petersburg to establish direct links between British and Russian groups later in the year. The UK support network became the Network Russia Scout Fellowship in March 2000, and continues to support Scout relationships with Russia, establishing a web based point of contact and holding meetings twice a year to encourage developments in Russia.