Slavery in Russia Slavery in Russia Slavery in Russia was officially abolished in 1723, when Peter the Great converted household slaves to serfs. In 2013, Global Slavery Index reported that unsatisfactory living conditions of migrant workers who for a number of reasons can not obtain work permits in Russia but continue to work in the country illegally and for minimum wage. In Kievan Rus' and Muscovy, legal systems usually referred to slaves as "kholopy". A kholop's master had unlimited power over his life: he could kill him, sell him, or use him as payment upon a debt. The master, however, had responsibility before
Polish minority in Russia Polish minority in Russia There are currently 73,000 Polish nationals living in the Russian Federation. This includes autochthonous Poles as well as those forcibly deported during and after World War II; the total number of Poles in what was the former Soviet Union is estimated at up to 3 million. Zainsk, Kazan governate, was originally a fort occupied by Chelny strelsty, archers and servicemen, and 81 Polish Cossask prisoners from Smolensk area after the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1654 the Poles were taken from Polotsk, 141 people from the Polish small gentry were evacuated to Tiinsk together with the Cossacks,