People’s Union

   Political party. Known in Russian as Narodnyi Soiuz, the People’s Union is a nationalist party with a strong conservative orientation. Veteran politician Sergey Baburin founded the party in 2001 as the People’s Will; the party changed its name after incorporating more than a dozen Orthodox Christian groups in 2007. While the party was closely allied with Rodina, it chose not to become part of Fair Russia. The party has established contacts with other nationalist parties across Europe, and includes Aleksandr Rutskoy among its members. Failing to meet the requirements for participation in the 2007 State Duma elections, the party backed the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.