Russia, Ohio

Russia (/ˈruːʃi/ ROO-shee[4]) is a village in Loramie Township, Shelby County, Ohio, United States.

Russia was founded by Lewis Phillips, who purchased and plotted the land where the village now sits.

Among the earliest settlers were French-speaking Swiss who had served under Napoléon Bonaparte during the French invasion of Russia in 1812.

By the middle of the 1850s, the heavily Roman Catholic population had grown to the point that multiple parishes were established in the area.

[5]: 367  The village is one of many small communities in a heavily Catholic region of western Ohio known as the "Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches".

Symbols and colors were selected to underscore the town's French and Catholic heritage in addition to how agriculture and industry largely contributed to the development of the community over time.

Map of Ohio highlighting Shelby County