A treasure trove of largely untold histories, Black American and African life in Russia dates back centuries. Though the Black population remains small, past and modern stories document unique, complex, and varied experiences.
Abram Gannibal is largely considered the earliest prominent Black person in Russia. From Cameroon, while young and enslaved, he was presented to Russian emperor Peter the Great in the early 18th century. Gannibal ended up an educated member of Russian nobility, a military leader, and had many descendants. The latter included his great-grandson, Alexander Pushkin, a notable Romantic-era writer.
George Washington University (GWU)’s Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies notes that after the Bolsheviks took power in 1917, the party “spent considerable resources promoting its commitment to fighting racial oppression in global affairs.” As per GWU, Russians were educated about racial inequalities in other parts of the globe and familiarized with “the image of the conscious, revolutionary, Black worker.” It was under those circumstances, during the 1920s and onwards, that Black and African people began venturing more commonly to Russia for work, school, or a chance at a better life. Activists who aligned themselves with communism also visited.
Among the notable 20th-century Black and African figures who visited Russia are W.E.B. Du Bois, Dorothy West, Langston Hughes, Kwame Nkrumah, Ousmane Sembène, Angela Davis, and others.
One widely circulated photograph — this story’s cover image — from September 29, 1961, shows Huldah Clark, a Black teenage girl, surrounded by her Russian classmates. The image serves as a rare visual record of everyday Black life in the Soviet Union, capturing both the visibility and perceived novelty of her presence during that era.
What Else Is There To Know About Black People In Russia?
More modern reports share a spectrum of experiences faced by Black Russians. As the largest country in the world, it makes sense that Afro-Russians and Black visitors have different experiences based on where in Russia they are and the people around them.
Some emphasize that Black and African people continue to be othered in Russia. Moreover, personal stories, like Francine Villa’s, offer harrowing snapshots of what reality can be like.
Villa is a Russian-born Black woman who attempted to flee racism in the U.S. by moving back to Russia in 2019. She even discussed her positive experience living in Russia and her Russian heritage in a documentary for RT titled “Black in the USSR.” But then, in 2025, the Afro-Russian took to social media and showed herself bloodied and distressed. As per the New York Post, Villa claimed that neighbors in her Moscow apartment complex violently assaulted her and subjected her to a hate crime, yelling slurs, all in front of her young child.
Back in 2021, Victoria Nadezhda Bela shared that she’d experienced moments in Russia that were “isolating.” However, she said that things were changing. A Black woman with an Equatoguinean father and a Russian mother, she told Travel Noire, “I always had a thought that maybe I was the only one, which is not possible.”
“But no, I’ve never met another Black Russian in my life. And that was actually why I started a TikTok channel. And I ended up meeting multiple other Black Russians with a similar background to me through that,” she added.
Moreover, Yasmin Boaitey previously documented her time in St. Petersburg and Moscow for Travel Noire from a visitor’s perspective. In her “The Ultimate Black Girl Guide To Visiting Russia,” she wrote, “I found that my experience in Russia was great! I didn’t encounter any racism and never felt like my safety was at risk.”
