*RIGRI is glad to have Vladimir Ratnikov, a PhD student at Mykolas Romeris University, as a new contributor.
Persecution of Russian Nationalists in Putin's Russia
To correctly identify the attitude of Putin and his government towards Russian Nationalism, one of the most important criteria is the persecution of Russian Nationalists during his reign. The subject of this article is the facts of criminal prosecution of Russian nationalists in the period from 2000 to 2025. The objectives of the research are to show whether these persecutions were systematic, when and in what form they occurred. The article aims to show the attitude of the Putin regime towards Russian nationalists from the point of view of criminal law and other laws. The relevance of this article is due to the existing debates in scientific and public circles about the ideological essence of Putin’s power, including theories about the nationalistic nature of this political regime. The novelty of the article is evident in the lack of publications on this topic that systematically describe the facts of persecution of Russian nationalists in Putin’s Russia. Previous works on the connection between Putin and nationalism have mostly focused on his ideological worldviews and policies, rather than his relationship with groups that openly call themselves Russian nationalists, although the facts of criminal and systematic persecution are one of the most important indicators of the regime's attitude to a particular ideology. The lack of articles written in English is especially important. The research methods used will be the formal legal method, the historical method, and the systems method. The analysis will include theoretical and scientific works, media publications, court decisions, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as well as reports from human rights and information and analytical centres. The hypothesis is that in Putin's Russia, there was a systematic persecution of Russian nationalists, which gives grounds to assume that the goal was to eradicate the nationalist movement, which was perceived as hostile.
Speaking about the literature review, it must be said again that the bulk of the research is devoted to assessing the attitude of the Putin regime to Russian nationalism through the prism of Putin’s worldview, his entourage, propaganda, and their policies. Such articles include the works of Neil Melvin "Nationalist and Imperial Thinking Define Putin's Vision for Russia" (Melvin, 2023), Anna Nemtsova "How Putin Tapped a Well of Ethnic Hatred in Russia" (Nemtsova, 2024) and Andrei Kolesnikov "Blood and Iron: How Nationalist Imperialism Became Russia's State Ideology" (Kolesnikov, 2023). Of the works that can be called dedicated to the persecution of Russian nationalists in the Russian Federation, one can name "The Threat of Nationalism in Putin’s Russia", written by Sergey Gitalov (Gitalov, 2019). However, this work seems to be extremely incomplete in describing the problem. An important resource that allows one to draw conclusions and obtain information about the persecution of Russian nationalists is the resources of the SOVA Information and Analysis Center (SOVA Center, 2018 March). However, their materials are of an informational and analytical nature, not scientific. Other works concerning Russian nationalism are also largely journalistic rather than scientific, for example, Elena Dunaeva's "Who is a Russian? The history of modern Russian nationalism through the eyes of participants and researchers" (Dunaeva, 2022). Thus, one can conclude that there is a lack of proper scientific material on the history of the persecution of Russian nationalists in the Russian Federation.
For the purposes of this article, it is necessary to define Russian nationalists are those who openly identify themselves with this political ideology. Russian Nationalism has a long history, but until the late 2000s, its prosecution was mostly limited to criminal cases against those who used violence. Thus, one of the first cases can be called the case of Ryno-Skachevsky, accused of several murders (Lenta.ru, 2011b), or the case of the Combat Terrorist Organisation (BTO). However, after the Russian March of 2005, Russian Nationalism began to be perceived as a significant social force, which led to a gradual increase in repression against this political spectrum (Grani,2011).
At first, some criminal cases were on the border between political persecution and persecution for real violent actions. In 2003, several members of the "Schulz-88" group were arrested, including their leader Dmitry Bobrov, "Schulz", who received 6 years in prison for organising an extremist community. In 2009, a case was opened against members of the National Socialist Society (NSO). The members of the organisation, who were involved in the so-called NSO-North case, were accused of several murders. However, NSO, unlike, for example, the BTO, was characterised by participation in public actions, including the "Russian March", the use of propaganda, including non-violent propaganda. Some participants in the case, for example, Vasily Krivets, denied the charges of murder (Kommersant, 2011; Shmaraeva, 2010). One of the leaders of the NSO, Maxim Bazylev, known especially for his speeches at nationalist rallies and propaganda articles, died under mysterious circumstances in the Temporary Detention Facility "Petrovka 38" (Fochkin, 2009). NSO was declared extremist and banned in 2010 (Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, n.d.).
Other criminal cases were more political and involved charges related to statements that allegedly incited hatred. One of the main instruments of persecution of Russian nationalists is Article 282 of the Criminal Code, which provides for liability for inciting hatred or enmity, as well as degrading human dignity based on gender, race, nationality, language, origin, religion and social affiliation, as well as because of belonging to "other social groups." The first person to be brought to criminal responsibility under this article was Ilya Lazarenko, who at that time headed the organisation "National Front", in 1997, for his speeches at Moscow State University and publishing articles.
The first case of receiving a real prison term under Article 282 was the case of Maksim Martsinkevich, also known as "Tesak". In 2008, he received a 3-year prison term for inciting hatred (Yakovlev, 2008). Later, in 2009, he also received another prison term for a second case under Article 282. By partial addition of the sentence, the total term for Tesak was 3.5 years of imprisonment (Delfi.lt, 2011).
Thus, in 2009, the then-leader of the Movement Against Illegal Immigration, Alexander Belov (Potkin), was sentenced to a suspended sentence for inciting hatred towards the social groups “people from the Caucasus and Central Asia,” as well as “representatives of the executive branch.” The basis was the slogans "Nation above all!" and "Russia will be white!", as well as a comparison of the Government House with a "Torah scroll" (Kozenko, 2009). In 2010, searches were conducted at Aleksandr Belov and his brother Vladimir Basmanov (Potkin) in connection with a criminal case, the details of which are still unknown. In connection with these actions, Basmanov left the Russian Federation. In 2011, the Movement Against Illegal Immigration was recognised as extremist by the Supreme Court, and its activities were banned throughout the Russian Federation (Lenta.ru, 2011a).
In 2010, Dmitry Demushkin's "Slavic Union" movement was recognised as extremist (Delfi.lt, 2010).
In the spring of 2010, a criminal case was opened under Article 282 against the head of the Russian All-National Union, Igor Artemov. The basis was his articles, in which the investigation saw "propaganda of the exclusivity of Orthodoxy." According to Artemov, the reason for the criminal case was his words that "Orthodoxy is the only true faith," and "The only way to salvation is life in Christ." He linked the criminal case to the movement's success in municipal elections (Volchek, 2016a). In connection with this criminal case, Artemov left Russia and went to the United States (Start33.ru, 2012).
A criminal case was opened against another leader of the Russian All-National Union, Vasily Kryukov, back in 2006 under Articles 318-319 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, "Insulting a Government Official" and "Use of Violence against a Government Official." Fourteen employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were recognised as victims (Volchek, 2016b). In 2009, the case was closed, but in 2010, a new criminal case was opened against Kryukov under Article 282 for organising a rally in connection with the murder of football fan Yegor Sviridov in December 2010. Kryukov went into hiding during the investigation, went to Germany, where he received political asylum in 2014 (SOVA Center, 2014a).
In 2012, the rather radical movement "Northern Brotherhood" was banned. This movement organised the so-called "Big Game", which consisted of the fact that supporters of the movement being involved in actions of varying degrees of radicalism in a game form. In 2011, the leader of the organisation, Petr Khomyakov, was detained and charged under Part 1 of Article 282.1 (organisation of an extremist community) (SOVA Center, 2012). Later, Pyotr Khomyakov died in a penal colony.
Since 2010, it can be said that the Russian authorities have taken a course to eradicate the Russian nationalist movement; almost every leader of the Russian nationalists has been subjected to criminal cases. Konstantin Krylov, who founded the National Democratic Party a little later, gave a speech at the "Stop Feeding the Caucasus" rally in October 2011, in which he stated that the Caucasian regions produce nothing, while the number of subsidies sent there is higher than in other regions of the Russian Federation. Krylov added that the Caucasian regions produce a lot of Caucasians. At the end of his speech, Krylov stated that it was time to put an end to such a strange economic model (Interfax, 2013). Krylov was accused of inciting hatred or hostility towards the social group "Caucasians". A preventive measure in the form of a written undertaking not to leave was imposed against him. The court found him guilty and sentenced him to 120 hours of compulsory work. In 2014, Krylov was amnestied.
In 2012, the leader of the Moscow Defence League movement, Daniil Konstantinov, was detained. He was accused of killing a stranger with whom he had quarrelled on the subway. This case is significant in that the charges were not based on statements, as is usually the case in cases against Russian nationalists, but on a purely criminal, everyday episode. Despite this, Konstantinov believed that his case was related to his political activities and completely denied guilt. The entire evidence base against him was based on the testimony of one witness, a friend of the deceased, who had previously been convicted several times. In addition, Konstantinov had an alibi from five people who passed the polygraph. The Memorial Human Rights Center recognised Konstantinov as a political prisoner (Human Rights Center "Memorial", 2014). The court reclassified the charge against Konstantinov from murder to hooliganism (Article 213 of the Criminal Code). Konstantinov was sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment, but was amnestied, like Krylov. After his release, Konstantinov left Russia and received political asylum in Lithuania (Delfi.lt, 2020).
In 2013, one of the main organisers of the "Russian March" and leaders of the key organisation of Russian nationalists at that time, Georgy Borovikov, was arrested. He was accused of forcibly holding and torturing one of his comrades: articles 127 «illegal deprivation of liberty», article 161 «robbery», article 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation «torture» (Pravo.ru, 2014). Borovikov received 7.5 years of imprisonment. Despite the seemingly non-political nature of the charges, the accused and the defence insisted on Borovikov's innocence. They cited forensic medical examinations as arguments for the defence. The circumstances of the case were also strange, as the victim reported torture to the police almost a year later. Before that, even though he was allegedly held in an apartment, he was released several times to public events together with the accused. At one of these events, where tens of thousands of people participated, including many police officers, he escaped. These circumstances cast doubt on the credibility of the testimony.
In 2014, the previously mentioned Alexander Belov was arrested. His criminal case could be divided into two segments: economic, for the theft of $5 billion from BTA Bank depositors, together with Kazakh opposition billionaire Mukhtar Ablyazov. The political charges were based on the fact that Belov allegedly created an extremist community to carry out a coup d'etat in Kazakhstan. In 2016, Belov was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison. The sentence was passed by Judge Trishkin, who subsequently passed numerous guilty verdicts in political cases (Meduza, 2025). Later, Belov's sentence was mitigated due to the complete cancellation of the economic part of the charge on rehabilitating grounds. The nationalist was transferred to house arrest, and later under a written undertaking not to leave (RBC, 2018a). Belov's sentence was reduced to 3.5 years and was supposed to expire, but despite this, he continued to be under criminal prosecution for several more years. In February 2024, Belov was put on the federal and then interstate wanted list (Orlova, 2024). In 2025, the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the prosecution of Alexander Belov, which was expressed in the unlawful restriction of freedom of opinion (Article 10 of the Convention) and excessive detention (Article 5(4) of the Convention) (European Court of Human Rights, 2025). At the moment, Belov's exact location is unknown.
In 2014, 4 members of the "Slavic Union" were killed in the Moscow region. According to the investigation, they were killed during gang warfare, but the killers have not yet been found, and their murder was clearly committed by professionals, which casts doubt on the investigation's version (Zheglov, 2014).
After his release in 2011, Martsinkevich became involved in public activities, creating the Restrukt movement together with several other nationalists. At the end of 2013, a criminal case was opened against "Tesak" under several episodes of Article 282 (incitement to hatred). The grounds were his video in which he expressed his opinion on several feature films - "Stalingrad" and "Okolofutbola", as well as for reposting a video that he did not create, which called for throwing migrants out of Russia. From the point of view of the investigation, these materials incited hatred towards the social groups: "migrants", "Caucasians", "non-Slavic people", and "non-Russians". At the time of the criminal case, Tesak was not in Russia. After Ukraine and Austria, he went to Cuba, where he was detained by local authorities and extradited to Russia (Delfi.lt, 2014a).
Despite the expert's conclusion that did not contain any signs of incitement to hatred in Martsinkevich's statements, as well as the video that he reposted, he was found guilty by the court and sentenced to 5 years in prison (Delfi.lt, 2014b). Thus, Martsinkevich became not only the first person to be sentenced to imprisonment under Article 282, but also the person to receive the longest term under this article.
In 2014, law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation violently dispersed the Restrukt congress in the Moscow concert hall "Izmailovo". During the congress, several hundred people were taken to police stations. Several members of the organisation were sent to pretrial detention on charges of robbery (Article 162) and hooliganism (Article 213), as well as causing serious bodily harm resulting in the death of a person through negligence (Part 3 of Article 111) (SOVA Center, 2014b). The grounds were the harsh actions of the Restrukt participants during the anti-drug campaigns of the "Occupation Narcophilia" project. Although the appellate court reduced Martsinkevich's prison term by almost half, Martsinkevich was not released, as he was charged with robbery and hooliganism for participating in anti-drug campaigns (SOVA Center, 2015a).
Some of the Restrukt members hid from law enforcement agencies. Thus, Roman Zheleznov, who was excluded from the organisation at that time, went to Ukraine, where he joined the Ukrainian unit "Azov". As a result of which a criminal case was opened against him, he was put on the federal wanted list, and later he was sentenced in absentia to 4 years of imprisonment on charges of mercenaryism (SOVA Center, 2018a).
In 2017, a decision was made in the Restrukt case. All defendants were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 1 to 10 years, including those who were under a written undertaking not to leave the country before the verdict. Martsinkevich himself received 9 years of imprisonment (Lyutyh, 2017). In May 2018, Tesak's sentence was overturned, and the case was sent for a new trial. In late 2019, Martsinkevich was again found guilty, and his prison term was increased to 10 years (RBC, 2018).
In the summer of 2020, it became known that Martsinkevich, while in a penal colony in Krasnoyarsk, confessed to several murders. During Martsinkevich's transportation to Moscow for investigation in a new case, he was found dead in the Chelyabinsk pretrial detention centre. Martsinkevich's lawyer stated that the confession against Tesak was obtained under torture, and he doubted that the official version of the authorities, Martsinkevich's suicide, corresponded to reality (Lenta.ru, 2020). The initiation of a criminal case into the murder of Martsinkevich was denied (REN TV, 2020).
In 2013, several members of the Restrukt movement left the organisation and created a separate movement, Ataka. A year later, the leaders and active participants of the movement were detained, and a case was opened against them under Article 282.1, "Organisation of an Extremist Community." However, unlike the Restrukt case, the Ataka case did not involve any charges of actual violent actions. 10 members of the movement received prison terms, and Ataka was added to the register of extremist organisations (Mediazona, 2014).
In 2015, the activities of the Ethnopolitical Association "Russians", headed by Belov, Basmanov and Demushkin, were banned (Delfi.lt, 2015). Back in 2011, criminal cases were opened against Dmitry Demushkin. He was charged with articles on organising an extremist organisation (Article 282.2), calls for mass riots (Article 212, Part 3) and incitement to hatred (Article 282). The basis for the charge under 282.2 was that he headed the organisation "Slavic Power", which, from the point of view of the investigation, was a continuation of the activities of the banned "Slavic Union". The charge under Article 212 was that Demushkin promised that in the event of non-coordination of the Russian March, the nationalists would simply come out in the centre of Moscow themselves. The charge under Article 282 was based on an interview Demushkin gave, where he advocated for giving the Russian people the status of a state-forming people (NEWSru.com, 2013). The case dragged on, and only the charge under 282.2 reached the court; the other two charges were dropped (NEWSru.com, 2014). As a result, Demushkin was sentenced to a fine, but was released from execution of the punishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
In October 2016, a new criminal case was opened against Demushkin under Article 282. This time, the basis was the placement of banners with slogans of the Russian March on the social network VKontakte, including the slogans "Free Russia - Russian Power" and "Russian Order on Russian Land". According to the investigation, these slogans incited hatred towards social groups "non-Russians" (Vashchenko, 2017). Demushkin was given a preventive measure in the form of house arrest. In 2017, Demushkin was sentenced to 2.5 years of imprisonment. The Memorial Human Rights Center recognised Demushkin as a person who has signs of political and legally unfounded persecution (Memorial Human Rights Center, n.d.a). In 2019, due to the decriminalisation of Article 282, Demushkin was released from prison ahead of schedule (RBC, 2019).
Another person who stood at the origins of the Russian March, Yuri Gorsky, was accused in 2017 of public calls for extremist activity for slogans at the May Day rally of Russian nationalists. A preventive measure in the form of house arrest was chosen against him, but he fled to Lithuania, where he requested political asylum (SOVA Center, 2018b). The Lithuanian authorities granted him a humanitarian residence permit.
Another organiser of the "Russian March", Denis Tyukin, was accused of inciting hatred towards communists for the slogans he shouted at the Russian March in 2015. Tyukin did not wait for the court's decision and left Russia for Ukraine (Gazeta.ru, 2015).
The cases mentioned mainly concerned Moscow Russian nationalists. However, persecution of nationalists was carried out throughout the country. Thus, in April 2015, nationalist Nikolai Bondarik, one of the organisers of the Russian March, was convicted in St. Petersburg. He was sentenced to 1.5 years of probation for inciting hatred, which, according to the investigation, consisted of his post, which described criminal actions by migrants. The prosecution claimed that the message about these facts was staged (SOVA Center, 2015b). In September 2015, Bondarik was arrested in another criminal case, also about inciting hatred. According to the case materials, he also posted a message on his social networks about the murder of a boxer by migrants. In this message, he "offensively and derogatorily spoke about migrants", pursuing the goal of inciting hatred towards them (RBC, 2017a). During the investigation, Bondarik was in a pretrial detention centre. In 2017, he was convicted. He received a suspended sentence of 5 years and a 5-year probationary period, during which he was prohibited from using social networks and engaging in public activities (OVD-Info, 2017).
In 2011, the organiser of the "Russian Jogging" movement and the leader of the local "Russian March", Maxim Kalinichenko, was detained in St. Petersburg. He was charged with incitement to use violence against a government official, dangerous to life or health (Part 2 of Article 318), as well as calls for mass riots (Part 3 of Article 212). He spent more than a year in a pretrial detention centre and was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months of suspended imprisonment. In 2015, he was detained again by FSB officers and charged with public calls for extremist activity (Part 1 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 2 years and 7 months imprisonment in a strict regime penal colony. The grounds for this were several publications in the open VKontakte groups he created - "Russian March 2014" and "Russian Right Sector". Despite admitting guilt, Kalinichenko was recognised as a political prisoner (Memorial, n.d.a).
The above-mentioned Dmitry Bobrov "Schultz", after his release from prison in 2009, created the organisation "National Social Initiative" (NSI), mainly operating in St. Petersburg. Unlike the previous organisation, "Schultz 88", NSI was engaged in peaceful propaganda actions. In 2015, NSI was recognised by the court as extremist and banned (SOVA Center, 2017a). In 2017, Bobrov was convicted of inciting hatred for "excessively exalting the importance of the Russian people" in his online publications. Bobrov was sentenced to 2 years in prison, but hid from the investigation. In January 2019, he was detained. However, three months later, due to the decriminalisation of Article 282, he was released from custody (Meduza, 2019).
In 2015, in the city of Syktyvkar in the Komi Republic, the leader of the local nationalist organisation "Frontier of the North", Alexey Kolegov and his associates were arrested. They were charged under a number of articles, including vandalism (Article 214) for painting a monument to Lenin, as well as Part 2 of Article 117 of the Criminal Code (torture committed with the use of torture, by an organized group, motivated by hatred or enmity towards a certain social group), Part 1 of Article 119 (threat of murder) and Part 4 of Article 150 of the Criminal Code (involving minors in committing crimes as part of a criminal group). Kolegov and his associates were found guilty; Kolegov was sentenced to 4 years in prison (SOVA Center, 2015c). In 2017, the activities of " Frontier of the North " were banned on the territory of the Russian Federation (BNK, 2019).
In 2017, members of the "Baltic Vanguard of the Russian Resistance" movement from the city of Kaliningrad were detained, including the head of the organisation, Alexander Orshulevich. They were charged with organising a terrorist community (Article 205.4). The activities of this community, from the point of view of the investigation, were manifested in the distribution of leaflets calling for the assassination of Vladimir Putin (Human Rights Centre "Memorial", n.d.a). During the investigation, the case was reclassified under the more lenient Article 282.1. "Organisation of an exterminator community." The defendants received various terms of imprisonment. Orshulevich himself was sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment. The defendants in the case of the Baltic Vanguard of the Russian Resistance were recognized as political prisoners (Free Russia Foundation, n.d.).
In 2016, the leader of Russian nationalists in Astrakhan, Igor Stenin, was sentenced to two years in a penal colony. He was accused of public calls for extremist activity for a post with the words "Death to the Kremlin occupiers." The regime of serving the sentence was later changed to general. In May 2017, the Presidium of the Astrakhan Regional Court overturned the sentence due to the lack of corpus delicti, but the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation overturned this decision. In 2018, Stenin left Russia for Lithuania, where he received political asylum. The Memorial Human Rights Center recognised Stenin as a political prisoner (Human Rights Centre "Memorial", n.d.a).
In 2017, arrests of supporters of the Artpodgotovka movement, headed by Vyacheslav Maltsev, began. Maltsev himself managed to leave Russia in connection with the initiation of a criminal case against him for creating an extremist community (Gazeta.Ru, 2017). Criminal cases against members of the Artpodgotovka movement were held all over Russia (SOVA Center, 2017b); the defendants were accused, among other things, of preparing terrorist acts and were sentenced to prison terms of up to 13 years (BBC News, 2019). Most of the accused were recognised as political prisoners (Human Rights Centre "Memorial", n.d.c). Sentences for participation in Artpodgotovka are issued until 2025 (OVD-Info, 2025). In 2021, Artpodgotovka was added to the register of terrorist organisations (Current Time, 2021).
In the summer of 2018, several members of the "Male State" community, a movement created by Vladislav Pozdnyakov that had a significant number of subscribers in the Telegram messenger, were detained in Khabarovsk. They were accused of participating in an extremist community. In 2019, four defendants in the case received real prison terms (SOVA Center, 2018c). In 2021, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court banned the activities of the "Male State" by recognising the movement as extremist. The founder of the Movement himself was convicted of inciting hatred in 2018 and given a suspended sentence, after which he left Russia (BBC News, 2021).
In 2018, members of the Black Bloc movement were detained in Moscow. A criminal case was opened under 9 articles of the Criminal Code, including organizing an extremist community (Article 282.1), inciting hatred (Article 282), public calls for extremist activity (Article 280), justification of terrorism (Article 205.2), calls for mass riots (Article 212, Part 3), and preparing individuals to participate in mass riots (Article 212, Part 1). The Black Bloc case was found to be politically motivated and legally unfounded (Human Rights Centre "Memorial", n.d.d). The movement's participants spent two years in custody, after which they were released under house arrest. While under house arrest, the movement's leaders, including Dmitry Makarov (Sporykhin), hid from the investigation and fled to Europe. They were put on the federal wanted list, after which they received political asylum in European countries, including Lithuania. In 2025, along with the complaint of Alexander Belov, the court upheld the complaint in the Black Bloc case, recognising that concerning their criminal case, there was an unjustified violation of the right to freedom of expression and unjustified detention (European Court of Human Rights, 2025).
In the spring of 2020, searches were conducted at the People's Resistance Association movement, headed by Mikhail Pulin and Nikita Zaitsev. The case was opened under the article on illegal registration of a legal entity (2 articles 173.1 of the Criminal Code), Mikhail Pulin, who had previously served sentences in the form of imprisonment and was recognized as a political prisoner by the Memorial Human Rights Center, left Russia, and received political asylum in Lithuania (SOVA Center, 2020). Nikita Zaitsev, being the organiser of the Russian Marches since 2018, has been subjected to administrative arrests several times (RBC, 2021). In 2024, the ECHR recognised these arrests as a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Court of Human Rights, 2024).
In 2021, Yegor Prosvirnin, the founder of the largest nationalist media outlet Sputnik and Pogrom, fell out of a window under strange circumstances. He was holding a knife and pepper spray when he died. An examination found drugs in his urine, but not in his blood, indicating that he was not intoxicated at the time of his death, casting doubt on the non-violent nature of his death (BBC News, 2021).
In 2020, the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court banned the activities of the Nation and Freedom Committee, created by Vladimir Basmanov (Novaya Gazeta, 2020).
In 2023, searches were conducted in connection with a criminal case opened against the "Nationalist Movement", an organisation created by Basmanov and Pulin in 2020. According to the investigation, the "Nationalist Movement" incited hatred towards social groups "FSB employees", "representatives of the legislative, executive and judicial authorities", "members of the United Russia party", justified terrorism in their posts about the Tambov Uprising of 1920 and continued the activities of the banned Nation and Freedom Committee (OVD-Info, 2023). Searches as part of the criminal case were carried out throughout the country, including searches at Alexei Kolegov’s home. At the moment, the only defendant in this criminal case is Vladimir Basmanov. The other defendants have been dismissed as "unidentified persons."
In March 2024, the administrators of the right-wing Telegram channel "NatDem", Georgy Paramoshin and Kirill Nikulenkov, were detained. They were charged with inciting hatred towards "non-Russians" and "non-whites", FSB officers and members of the United Russia party. Both were taken into custody, where they remain as of 2025. The investigation also assessed the Telegram channel as an extremist community. In April 2025, two more defendants in the case were detained in Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod (SOVA Center, 2025).
It is also worth mentioning the most famous Russian oppositionist, Alexei Navalny, who previously called himself a Russian nationalist and repeatedly took part in Russian marches (Verkhovsky, 2021). In this regard, the assassination attempts on him (RBC, 2020), his imprisonment first for fraud (UK Delegation to the OSCE, 2021), then for the extremist community (RBC, 2023), and finally his death under strange circumstances, called murder by many, can also be attributed to episodes of persecution of nationalists (BBC News, 2024).
It is worth mentioning separately that many Russian nationalists were convicted for their connections and support for Ukraine, both after the war in Donbass in 2014 and after the start of the special military operation in 2022. Thus, in 2017, Roman Strigunkov, a Belgorod nationalist, was arrested in absentia for participating in the Right Sector, which was considered an extremist community in the Russian Federation at that time (RBC, 2017b).
In 2018, Vladimir Domnin, a Russian nationalist and member of the so-called "Russian Insurgent Army" operating in Ukraine, was extradited from the United States. He was accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organisation, as well as participating in an illegal armed formation (Part 2 of Article 208). In 2020, he was sentenced to 8 years and 10 months in prison. Vladimir Domnin is recognised as a political prisoner (Memorial, n.d.b).
After the start of a full-scale war and the creation of a unit of Russian nationalists within the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the "Russian Volunteer Corps", its leader, Denis Kapustin ("White Rex"), was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for leading a terrorist organisation (Article 205.4) (Delfi, 2023). In 2025, the ideologist of the Russian Volunteer Corps, Vasily Kiryushchenko ("Cardinal"), was put on the wanted list (Shcherbak, 2025).
There were also cases of the liquidation of Russian nationalists suspected of working with Ukrainian special services. For example, in 2022, the FSB liquidated several Restrukt members suspected of preparing terrorist attacks (Meduza, 2022).
Above were presented only the most famous, resonant cases in relation to leaders of organisations, media personalities. The article did not include a large number of ordinary participants of the Russian nationalist movement, especially those who did not belong to any organisations, as well as those who consciously used violent methods of struggle.
All this long-term, targeted policy of persecuting Russian nationalists led to the almost complete eradication of this phenomenon in the domestic politics of Russia by 2025. Russian Nationalism has acquired other forms, which are the subject of a separate article.
Conclusion.
For many years, the authorities of the Russian Federation have been pursuing a targeted policy of persecuting Russian nationalists, using criminal law and banning organisations on the territory of the Russian Federation.
In most cases, Russian nationalists were prosecuted for crimes related to their statements: incitement of hatred or enmity (Article 282), public calls for extremist activity (Article 280), calls for mass riots (Article 212, Part 3), organization of and participation in an extremist community or organization (Articles 282.1 and 282.2), and justification of terrorism (Article 205.2).
Even charges of violent crimes, murder (Article 105), robbery (Article 162), and hooliganism (Article 213) were often accompanied by a lack of admission of guilt, questionable evidence, and grounds to suspect torture.
There are versions that the state could have been deliberately engaged in the physical liquidation of Russian nationalists. At least, many cases of deaths of Russian nationalists occurred under questionable circumstances.
The fact that the persecution of Russian nationalists was often unlawful is confirmed by the fact that many nationalists were recognised as political prisoners by human rights organisations, received asylum in democratic states, and won cases in the ECHR.
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Meduza. (2022, August 15). ФСБ заявила о предотвращении теракта на нефтепроводе: его якобы планировали взорвать члены группировки неонациста Тесака [FSB announced the prevention of a terrorist attack on an oil pipeline: it was allegedly planned to be blown up by members of neo-Nazi Tesak's group]. https://meduza.io/news/2022/08/15/fsb-zayavila-o-predotvraschenii-terakta-na-nefteprovode-ego-yakoby-planirovali-vzorvat-chleny-gruppirovki-neonatsista-tesaka
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Orlova, E. (2024, February 14). МВД России объявило в розыск русского националиста Александра Белова [Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs declared Russian nationalist Alexander Belov wanted]. Delfi.lt. https://www.delfi.lt/ru/abroad/russia/mvd-rossii-obyavilo-v-rozysk-russkogo-nacionalista-aleksandra-belova-95876105
OVD-Info. (2017, January 9). Суд приговорил Николая Бондарика к условному сроку за пост во «ВКонтакте» [Court sentenced Nikolai Bondarik to a suspended sentence for a post on VKontakte]. OVD-Info. https://ovd.info/express-news/2017/01/09/sud-prigovoril-nikolaya-bondarika-k-uslovnomu-sroku-za-post-vo-vkontakte
OVD-Info. (2023, May 12). «Движение националистов» расформировывает свои структуры в ряде регионов после апрельских обысков [«Movement of Nationalists» disbands its structures in several regions after April searches]. https://ovd.info/express-news/2023/05/12/dvizhenie-nacionalistov-rasformirovyvaet-svoi-struktury-v-ryade-regionov
OVD-Info. (2025, June 18). Экс-фигуранту дела «Артподготовки» вынесли приговор по статье о финансировании терроризма [Ex-defendant in the "Artpodgotovka" case sentenced on terrorism financing charges]. https://ovd.info/express-news/2025/06/18/eks-figurantu-dela-artpodgotovki-vynesli-prigovor-po-state-o-finansirovanii
Pravo.ru. (2014, June 30). Осуждены националисты, пытками заставившие молодого человека участвовать в «Русском марше» [Nationalists sentenced for torturing a young man into participating in the "Russian March"]. Pravo.ru. https://pravo.ru/news/view/106835/
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Shcherbak, A. (2025, July 13). Сына режиссера "Моей прекрасной няни" Василия Кирющенко объявили в розыск [Son of "My Fair Nanny" director Vasily Kiryushchenko declared wanted]. https://tass.ru/proisshestviya/24502959
Shmaraeva, E. (2010, October 28). Националиста Василия Кривца приговорили к пожизненному заключению [Nationalist Vasily Krivets sentenced to life imprisonment]. Gazeta.Ru. https://www.gazeta.ru/social/2010/10/28/3432277.shtml
SOVA Center. (2012, August 28). «Северное братство» признано экстремистским [“Severny Bratstvo” recognized as extremist]. SOVA Center. https://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2012/08/d25035/
SOVA Center. (2014a, December 15). Лидер Ижевского отделения РОНС получил политическое убежище в Украине [Leader of the Izhevsk branch of RONS granted political asylum in Ukraine]. SOVA Center. https://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2014/12/d30761/
SOVA Center. (2014b, June 30). ОМОН сорвал съезд «Реструкта» [OMON disrupted the Restrukt conference]. SOVA Center. https://www.sova-center.ru/en/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2014/06/d29817/
SOVA Center. (2015a, March 18). Лидеру "Реструкта" предъявлены обвинения в разбое и хулиганстве [The leader of "Restrukt" charged with robbery and hooliganism]. SOVA Center. https://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2015/03/d31529/
SOVA Center. (2015b, April 24). В Санкт-Петербурге осужден националист Николай Бондарик [Nationalist Nikolai Bondarik convicted in Saint Petersburg]. SOVA Center. https://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2015/08/d31864/
SOVA Center. (2015c, December 8). Лидер "Рубежа Севера" приговорен к четырем годам лишения свободы [Leader of "Northern Frontier" sentenced to four years in prison]. SOVA Center for Information and Analysis. https://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2015/12/d33407/
SOVA Center. (2017a, September 12). Лидер НСИ получил два года колонии [Leader of NSI sentenced to two years in prison]. SOVA Center for Information and Analysis. https://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/09/d37922/
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SOVA Center. (2018a, March 30). Зухель заочно осужден за наемничество [Zukhel sentenced in absentia for mercenarism]. SOVA Center. https://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2018/03/d39108/
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