In the USA, there are over 3 million Russian-speaking emigrants, so in large cities, you can find Russian communities and neighborhoods. In North and South Dakota, there is a significant diaspora, numbering about 25,000 Russian-speaking residents.

Many Russian peasants migrated to these states thanks to the "Russian-American Colonization Company" in New York, which spread information about free lands. The company's employees helped emigrants choose the right state by telling them about the agronomic and climatic conditions. Due to the availability of free land, peasants actively moved to North Dakota, where they built settlements with names reminiscent of their homeland, such as Kyiv, Voronezh, and Chernihiv. In North Dakota, there is also a settlement named Volga, after the Russian river, and a town named Tolstoy, after the great writer.

However, the colonization process was not easy. The warlike Sioux Indians tried to hinder the colonists using arrows and tomahawks. Only in 1863-64 did federal troops manage to push them west of the Missouri River. The Indians were finally relocated to reservations after the opening of the Northern Railroad in 1873. This event led to an influx of settlers of various nationalities into North Dakota, including Germans, Norwegians, Russians, and Ukrainians. In the records of those years, you can find surnames like Kozlenko, Kovalenko, and Smirnoff.

In the early 20th century, "Russian Germans" also began to settle in this region. The southern part of North Dakota became known as the "German-Russian Triangle." By 1910, about 60,000 ethnic Germans from Russia lived here.

Americans consider both Dakotas to be some of the most boring states, as there are few entertainments besides watching bison and visiting Mount Rushmore. South Dakota is humorously known among Americans as the "State of Wagging Tails," as it is home to a special breed of squirrels with constantly moving tails.