This article was originally published on the Russian Anastasia Foundation blog on November 13, 2025. Translated by the Anastasia Foundation.
The authors — Elena Katkova, Alexey Gornaev, and Ekaterina Artamonova-Ivchenko — are creators of Kin’s Domains in the Kovcheg Kin’s Domain Settlement, Kaluga Oblast. Alexey Gornaev is a longtime leader and spokesperson for the Kovcheg community and a respected figure in the broader Russian Kin’s Domain movement. You can read more of his work on our blog, including his series “Kin’s Domain Settlements or Ecovillages?” (Part 2, Part 3), his participation in the Moscow Economic Forum in 2025, and his participationin our Russia–America Exchange series.
Dear friends, Gabriel here. This new article is filled with insight from leaders of one of Russia’s most successful and perhaps most legendary Kin’s Domain Settlement. The settlement, pictured (partially) above, is roughly 100 families and is ~30 years old. Enjoy this translation!
A Secular Project, Not a Religious One
In October 2025, we came across statements by prominent public figures and academics asserting that Kin’s Domain Settlements are a secular project with no religious component. We consider this an exceptionally sound and timely observation. In support, we’d like to offer our own understanding of the matter.
Unrelenting Attacks on Sound Ideas
Over the many years we’ve spent building our Kin’s Domain, we have witnessed unending attempts to discredit the sound ideas set forth in Vladimir Megre’s Ringing Cedars of Russia book series. These attacks come in many forms — through slander and contrived speculation, the bulk of which target the worldview dimension and, in particular, the religious sphere.
People who have taken the momentous step of leaving suffocating cities to live on the land are subjected to all manner of ideological attacks and vilification. And this applies not only to Kin’s Domain residents, but to everyone who has begun building a life on the land. A certain portion of these attacks undoubtedly stem from honest misunderstanding rooted in simple lack of information. However, the majority are deliberate, carefully calculated, and conducted according to all the rules of psychological warfare.
The Proof Is in the Living
The very fact that Kin’s Domains are alive, thriving, and multiplying speaks to the viability of the ideas laid out in Vladimir Megre’s books. Moreover, based on our observations, the way of life in Kin’s Domains is the only truly sound and promising path for future generations.
Of course, Russia will also have wonderful small cities with universities, libraries, and theaters — places where people will come from their Kin’s Domains to gather and socialize. But for such cultural centers to arise, they must be supported by hundreds and thousands of Kin’s Domains surrounding them. The creation of Kin’s Domains is the key to future transformation.
The Airplane Analogy
Let’s imagine someone placed an order to build a flying airplane. You could go about it two ways:
The first way is to invent a multitude of new airplane designs, spending years and decades pouring in material and intellectual resources, only to discover each time that none of them fly.
The second way is to take as your foundation a proven, flight-tested design — knowing with certainty that it will fly.
This is the choice now facing the state. Spreading the ideas of Kin’s Domains will undoubtedly bring benefit to the entire country.
For now, the state is producing all sorts of documents and government programs aimed at resettling people on the land. Yet these programs don’t work and fail to deliver the intended results.
An Ideology of Common Sense
Do Kin’s Domains have an ideology? Of course they do. First and foremost, it is an ideology of common sense. Life in suffocating cities is becoming ever more burdensome. No one disputes this. Everyone talks about it. A portion of city dwellers — brave pioneers — summoned the courage to take a decisive step toward life on the land. They moved from words to action. They put common sense into practice, not just into speeches.
Religious Freedom in Practice
All traditional religious denominations encourage people to live on the land and to exercise sound judgment. Therefore, all attempts to steer settlers toward confrontation with established religious institutions are speculative and contrived. The attacks on settlers’ worldview look as though some hostile ideologue is demanding that a Bashkir [a Turkic people native to the Ural Mountains region in Russia, traditionally Muslim] be immediately converted from Islam to Christianity, or that a resident of central Russia be instantly converted to Buddhism — or perhaps that everyone simply be lumped together and shipped off into some fantastical virtual “neo-paganism.”
A Kin’s Domain opens up vast space for creative expression. If a person studies traditional folk costumes or medicinal herbs, that doesn’t make them a neo-pagan. By that logic, you could argue that anyone who eats porridge in the morning is a neo-pagan — because people in pagan times ate porridge in the morning too!
The Ringing Cedars of Russia books contain a call to study ALL historical periods of human life with equal attention and respect — to understand the light and dark sides of each era and take these into account when building the future. But there is no call to return to paganism or construct some neo-paganism. These accusations leveled at Kin’s Domain residents are far-fetched and speculative.
Peaceful Coexistence Across Beliefs
In Kin’s Domain Settlements, freedom of religion is upheld as a foundation of civil society, exactly as it is throughout all of Russia. No one imposes anything on anyone. We know of examples where half the residents of a settlement are devout churchgoers who regularly attend the local Orthodox church, while the other half are not. Everyone lives in peace, with no grievances toward one another. In other settlements, you’ll find individual Hare Krishna devotees, atheists, and others — just as you would anywhere across Russia.
What unites people for peaceful, neighborly life in Kin’s Domain Settlements is the creation of a sensible way of living. Each person creates the best possible conditions for their family, guided by common sense. And in this shared aspiration, people find common ground and social equilibrium.
A Stabilizing Force Against Division
Attempts from outside to sow inter-religious or other worldview-based discord are waged in Kin’s Domain Settlements just as they are across the wider world — but they don’t succeed. Precisely because there exists a stabilizing factor: a shared worldview grounded in the well-being of one’s family and the good of the entire country — the Improvement of One’s Living Environment.
Throughout the entire history of Kin’s Domain Settlements, this factor — the Improvement of One’s Living Environment — has outweighed and neutralized all hostile attempts. Precisely because people are building a better future with their own hands, through real, living activity.
Building Russia’s Future
As of October 2025, Kin’s Domains are islands where a brighter future for Russia is actively being built. Within them, critical national priorities are being realized across areas such as population preservation, demographics, ecology, food security, population resettlement, soil restoration, biodiversity enhancement, reforestation, the creation of comfortable living environments, and more.
All of these programs are being carried out by Kin’s Domain creators voluntarily, consciously, through dedicated labor, and at their own expense.
Life in Kin’s Domains is not insular. Settlers actively participate in patriotic activities, music and art competitions, and sporting events. They take part in greening nearby towns and villages and attend scientific conferences.
Elena Katkova, Alexey Gornaev, Ekaterina Artamonova-Ivchenko — creators of Kin’s Domains in the Kovcheg Kin’s Domain Settlement
Kovcheg Kin’s Domain Settlement: https://vk.com/prp_kovcheg, Kaluga Oblast
