Recently official karaite circles were contacted again by so called Russian Karaites - Subbotniks (Russkie Karaimi - Subbotniki).

They are a relatively large group of sectarians of Russian origin who live in Dagestan (around 30,000 people) and around the city of Baku, where they live in the four large villages.

The Subbotniks who live near the city of Baku say that their community was registered under the name of Russian Karaites on the base of the provisional rules for associations and communities.

The Subbotniks repeatedly strived to negotiate their joining with the Karaite community, but without success, because the representatives of the national (Russian-Orthodox) Church opposed this.

Karaites avoided official contact with the Subbotniks because of the above mentioned reason.

Currently Russian Karaites, after the attainment of their registration and after their recognition by the government, again made an efford to join the Karaite community.

That is why Hakham Samuil Moiseevich Pampulov inquired about the possibility of joining the official authorities during his sojourn in St. Petersburg.

It became apparent that the official authorities consider the Subbotniks as temporary renegades from the national (Russian-Orthodox) Church.

Therefore the Hakham continues to avoid direct negotiations with sectarians and holds view that they should refer this issue directly to the authorized ministry.

If the central government permits the Subbotniks to join the Karaite community, the spiritual council headed by the Hakham will have nothing against this association.