Russia thumb|Trud Stadium in Arkhangelsk In Russia bandy is known as hockey with a ball or simply Russian hockey. A similar game became popular among the Russian nobility in the early 1700s, with the imperial court of Peter the Great playing a predecessor of modern bandy on Saint Petersburg's frozen Neva river. Russians initially played this game using ordinary footwear with sticks made out of juniper wood, but it wasn't until later that ice skates were introduced. Bandy did not become popular among the masses throughout the Russian Empire until the second half of the nineteenth century. The predecessor of the current Russian Bandy Federation was founded in 1898. Bandy is considered a national sport in Russia and is the only discipline to have official support of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Russia thumb|Trud Stadium in Arkhangelsk In Russia bandy is known as hockey with a ball or simply Russian hockey A similar game became popular among the Russian nobility in the early 1700s with the imperial court of Peter the Great playing a predecessor of modern bandy on Saint Petersburg's frozen Neva river Russians initially played this game using ordinary footwear with sticks made out of juniper wood but it wasn't until later that ice skates were introduced Bandy did not become popular among the masses throughout the Russian Empire until the second half of the nineteenth century The predecessor of the current Russian Bandy Federation was founded in 1898 Bandy is considered a national sport in Russia and is the only discipline to have official support of the Russian Orthodox Church