The upheavals of the early 20th century scattered our compatriots around the world. Visiting other countries, we can see gravestones with Russian inscriptions in local cemeteries. There are especially many such graves in Prague, which a hundred years ago became one of the main places of residence for White émigrés. However, the first Russian burials appeared at the Olšany Cemetery long before that. Here lie soldiers who died in Prague hospitals after the battle of Kulm in 1813, where the combined Russian-Prussian-Austrian forces defeated the Napoleonic corps of General Vandamme. In the post-revolutionary times, graves of notable figures such as Don general Terenty Mikhailovich Starikov, writer and journalist Vasily Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko, Cossack general Sergey Arefyevich Shchepikhin, engineer Nikolai Nikolaevich Ipatiev, and many other Russian exiles were added.

In 1925, the first Russian church was built at the cemetery, designed by architect V.A. Brandt and consecrated in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This small church was erected at the initiative of the Russian émigré society 'Assumption Brotherhood,' and significant funds for its construction were provided by the first Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia, Karel Kramář, whose wife was a Russian émigré. The church has survived to this day and serves as a gathering place for those who remember those events; many well-known White émigrés rest in its necropolis.

By the end of World War II, fearing persecution from Soviet security services, most White émigrés moved to safer countries. However, by that time, hundreds of Russians had already been buried at Olšany Cemetery, having found their final resting place here. Nearby are the graves of Red Army soldiers who died in battles for Prague.

Unfortunately, over the past decades, some graves have been lost, but thanks to the efforts of caring individuals, the main part of the Russian necropolis has been preserved, becoming the last monument to our émigrés' presence in the Czech Republic. Funds for this were collected literally 'thread by thread' from the world, allowing for the rental of land for Russian graves. Today, anyone can visit Olšany Cemetery and touch the tragic history of Russian emigration.