Analysts from the Russian research movement "Sova" notes the growth of nationalist and neo-Nazi movements in Russia, which are actively supported by the Kremlin regime.
What is known about the strengthening of the neo-Nazism movement in Russia
The research centre, which has been studying the activity of far-right groups and hate crimes for many years, has presented two new reports.
According to one of these reports, the number of violent incidents by racist and neo-Nazi groups has increased in Russia in recent years.
The resurgence of Russian nationalists recorded in recent years and the government's public flirting with it makes it possible to assume that they may be overwhelmed again.
According to Oleksandr Verkhovskyi, the CEO of Sova, during the last 10 years there was a widespread opinion that Russian nationalism and radical Nazism were in deep decline. Still, the reverse processes have been taking place for some time now.
But gradually it became less and less an obvious statement. And what you will hear today says something else: that we are observing a kind of reverse process. I don't know if it should be called the revival of radical Russian nationalism or something else, but we clearly see such a process, — emphasised Verkhovsky.
"Sova" analysts note that the Russian authorities actively interact with and support the development of the nationalist movement, especially after the start of the criminal war against Ukraine.
However, there are also groups of Russian nationalists who are in opposition to the current Kremlin regime.
What is known about the new neo-Nazi groups in Russia
Separately, analysts singled out the emergence of a movement of nationalist-minded groups, which mainly consist of teenagers.
They resort to violent acts based on ethnicity, belonging to one or another subculture, sexual orientation, or because of adherence to a lifestyle that is wrong from their point of view.
Analysts collected the activity of such groups in the second report.
A significant part of the activity of the autonomists is relatively safe episodes of violence and damage to the property of opponents. Young neo-Nazis often spray gas canisters, puncture tires, break windows, damage goods in stores, the report says.
At the same time, the trend towards an increase in the number of such crimes is evident: if, in 2022, their number decreased so much that the report had practically nothing to contribute, then from the spring of 2023, a sharp increase is observed.
Stylistically and ideologically, these people are the successors of the neo-Nazi skinheads of the Zeros, but do not yet approach them in terms of brutality. They have heard something about zero fighters, they often adhere to aesthetics — heavy boots, white laces, a bomber jacket, but this is a completely new generation, in no way related to the previous one, — notes Vira Alperovych, an expert of the "Sova" center.
Vladyslav Pozdnyakov with his "Men's State" became the most famous of such Internet figures in the nationalist field, who set the trend for the harassment of women, feminist activists and representatives of the LGBT community. This movement became more popular, the more the authorities turned a blind eye to it, because all of Pozdniakov's proposals sounded in unison with the official discourse.
During the year, there were three murders that were monitored by Sova.
One of them was widely covered in the media: on August 18 in Yekaterinburg, graduate student of UrFU from Gabon, Francois Njelassili, was killed.
The other two murders were based on lifestyle criticism: one homeless man was stabbed in response to relevant comments; another man was beaten to death by a group of schoolchildren who call themselves "cleaners", mistaking him for a drug user.
