On August 17, 2023, Saransk, the capital city of Mordovia, hosted the 2nd All-Russian Forum of Finno-Ugric Ethnic Groups. The event gathered delegations from 35 regions of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, sent his greetings to the forum.The total number of people who belong to the Finno-Ugric ethnicities in Russia is ca. 2,000,000. According to the RF Ministry of Education, around 60,000 school students study 14 Finno-Ugric languages as a native language (in alphabetical order): Erzya, Estonian, Karelian, Komi, Komi-Permyak, Livvi-Karelian, Mansi, Mari (the Hill Dialect), Mari (the Meadow Dialect), Moksha, Udmurt, Veps, Finnish, and Khanty. In addition, 116,000 children study Komi, Hill Mari, Meadow Mari, Moksha, Erzya, and Udmurt as state languages in the respective republics of the Russian Federation.
Thanks to the forum, ethnic Estonians from Siberia—Anastasia Kuznetsova from Khaydak and Lina Andreyeva from St. John the Baptist Lutheran Church in Verkhni Suetuk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, visited Velmema Lutheran Church in Saransk.
Velmema Lutheran offered guided tours in connection with the Finno-Ugric forum.