After the breakdown of the USSR the formerly single territory of the multi-century empire was torn into a number of fragments, not only through the line of states’ borders but also including ethnic, national, regional, confessional and other dimensions. Russia itself faced the challenge of “Balkanization”. The issue of intra- national tolerance became highly acute. The reason is that counteraction to radical nationalism turned to stay in the heart of struggle for state’s integrity. To preserve such integrity is currently the key problem. Only with successful resolution of this problem can open favorable prospects for Russian statehood.