In multinational (multiethnic) states, the preservation and development of ethnic identity is of particular importance. However, this right is not contained in the legislation of each of such states. The Russian Federation has enshrined this right in its Basic Law — the Constitution of 1993. Members of communities, including those previously deprived of the right to ethnic identity, in modern Russia enjoy the right to determine and indicate their nationality without coercion.

The article considers the problem of recognition of the right to identity by members of those communities whose ethnicity is denied by science. One of these communities is the Russian Yezids. According to the All-Russian Population Census of 2002, slightly more than 30 thousand people indicated their nationality as “Yezid”, however, for more than two centuries of living on the territory of Russia (USSR), for the first time they were able to exercise the right not to be considered part of another, larger, multi-million ethnic group.

Based on the results of the analysis of special literature (including in the field of Oriental studies and ethnography), a conclusion is made about the deserving support and uniqueness of the Russian legislative experience of recognizing the right to ethnic identity for everyone. At the same time, the conclusion is also made about the need for additional legal guarantees for the protection and implementation of this right, which can be achieved by the adoption of an appropriate relevant law. Among the norms of the proposed law are the norms directly on the right to ethnic identity and the right of everyone to freely, without coercion, determine and indicate their native language.