Against all odds, a motley group of Russians
sustain their fervor for Zoroastrianism
Parinaz Gandhi
"They feel they are practicing, not pretending to be Zoroastrians,” stated Aleksandra (Sasha) Zasiadko sharing her observations of Russians in St Petersburg who have chosen to follow the religion propounded by Prophet Zarathushtra. When studying the neo-Zoroastrian community of St Petersburg for her Master’s thesis at the Department of Anthropology, European University at St Petersburg (EUSP) between 2021 and 2023, she learnt that once numbering nearly 300 in the 1990s, they are now down to nearly 15 who meet every Thursday. "They see themselves as fighters of good against evil. When it is easier to be like everyone else, they......