According to a nationwide poll conducted in March 2022 by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM), most Russians (68%) consider themselves Orthodox Christians and the percentage of such Russians in the 45-59 age group reaches 76%. The percentage of women is a little higher than that of man – 74% to 60% (Interfax 2022).
For the hospitality context (specifically – F&B) it’s relevant to mention another finding of the same poll. Out of respondents who identify as Orthodox Christians, 19% said they only observe Lent, 5% said they strictly observe all Orthodox fasts, and 74% declared they do not observe fasts. There are 2 main times when lent is observed: the Great Lent (observed for 40 days before the Russian Orthodox Easter which doesn’t fall on a fixed day and it’s usually later than the day the Western world celebrates Easter) and the Nativity Lent (observed for 40 days before the Russian Orthodox Christmas which falls on January 7th). It has to be noted that Russian church uses the Julian calendar.