This article presents the historical and ethnological aspects of studying topics related to the life of the Old Believer communities of the Republic of Moldova, which are analyzed in scientifi c publications of the last few decades. There has been an increase in interest in the study of this problem in recent times. The author reviews a number of articles, collections, monographs and the magazine “Lipovane”. The necessity of extensive systematic studies of the ethnographic features of the Russian Old Believers of Moldova is emphasized. The author considers that the collection of fi eld material is far from complete. These studies, in his opinion, should be carried out on the basis of extensive fi eld studies covering all settlements with compact residence of this population group. A comparison should be made of the preservation of traditional Russian culture in the villages and cities in which Old Believers live.