Putin's new extremists patrol the streets of Russia

MoscowMore than a hundred men march through the streets of Lyubertsy, on the outskirts of Moscow, to celebrate National Unity Day. In a country where demonstrations are banned, such a large group is a surprising sight. They are all dressed in black, their faces covered, and belong to the Russian Community, the country's most popular far-right organization. In 2010, the authorities began cracking down on the radical nationalist marches held every November 4th, but now the police give them free rein. What has changed since then? Who are these new radicals?

The Russian Community was founded in 2020, but gained significant prominence in 2024, with the wave of anti-immigrant sentiment that followed.jihadist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hallIt is estimated to have thousands of members throughout Russia, who boast of "patrolling the streets" and "helping law enforcement prevent ethnic crime" by carrying out raids against foreigners. Some of these actions have ended in tragedy, such as the fire they started in an apartment where an Armenian citizen died. After the incident, the police searched the assailants' home but did not press charges, merely summoning them as witnesses. Experts say that when complaints are directed at the Russian Community, it is the head of the Investigative Committee, an equivalent to the prosecutor's office, who personally reviews them. The extremists themselves acknowledge that their collaboration with the police is complete. Their leader, Andrei Tkachuk, a former deputy and deputy mayor from Siberia, claims that the officers invite them to participate in their raids because "they don't have enough people."

The group also receives protection from the Russian Orthodox Church. In September, the extremists escorted Patriarch Kirill in a procession through central Moscow and presented themselves as a security detail. Since 2023, the organization is believed to have begun requiring its members to profess the Orthodox faith and launched campaigns against Muslim symbols and places of worship.

An invention of the secret services

However, beyond collusion and ideological affinities with state institutions, the far-right's true connection lies with the secret services. According to a source close to the FSB—the former KGB—in the opposition newspaperJellyfishThe Russian community is not only monitored by spies, but was created and nurtured by them. Secret services pass information to radicals about "interethnic conflicts," and agitators keep them informed of their activities and operate under their control.

The pattern is reminiscent of twenty years ago, when, during the first marches for National Unity Day, Eurasianist circles grew under the protection of the presidential administration in exchange for support for the Kremlin. When, in 2010, the movement escaped the control of the special services and turned violent, the authorities repressed it. "The nationalist organizations at that time were part of the opposition, but now they are loyal," Jules Sergei Fediunin, a political scientist specializing in Russian nationalism, explained to ARA.

In 2022, when Putin invaded UkraineThe Russian far right had already been completely absorbed. Then, according to Fediunin, the regime used them to "divert attention from the front lines" and "project public discontent onto scapegoats: immigrants and the LGBTI community." Speaking to ARA, Stefania Kulaeva of the Memorial Anti-Discrimination Center believes that the Russian government "has veered toward overt chauvinism," has equated "the ideology of war and Russian superiority," and therefore finds it "no surprise" that the authorities themselves "now defend radical nationalist (fascist) ideas."

Neo-Nazis on the forehead

The war has also allowed the Kremlin to send the most violent elements of these circles to the front lines. The quintessential neo-Nazi unit of the Russian army is called Rusich and is known for its sadism: recently, it encouraged soldiers to share photos of executed Ukrainian prisoners. Paradoxically, some Russian neo-Nazis broke away from the radical nationalist movement in 2014, with the annexation of Crimea, and have ended up fighting in the Ukrainian ranks.

The official version of the Russian government is that the Russian Community are not Nazis because "Nazism is prohibited in Russia." There are openly National Socialist groups that commit murder and are prosecuted, while the new extremists currently enjoy immunity.

Kulaeva warns that the Kremlin "risks losing control" of this process and that the veterans returned from Ukraine "may join far-right organizations" and represent "a threat to stability and social order." In contrast, Fediunin sees it as "highly unlikely" that this movement will end up posing a serious problem for Putin.