Racism and Xenophobia in March 2017

In March 2017, we learned of two victims of attacks by radical right-wing activists in Novosibirsk and Krasnodar. Since the start of the year, three people have been killed due to xenophobic violence and no less than nine were assaulted in six Russian regions.

In March, we learned of three acts of xenophobically motivated vandalism in three regions. In total since the beginning of this year, there were no less than five such acts in five regions.

Besides this, the Committee of Vigilance, a small, ultra-right wing group who attack intoxicated people, primarily those with a non-Slavic appearance, has posted videos of their attacks on radical right wing websites.

The Russian National Unity (RNE) continued to distribute calls to join the ranks of the militias of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic on the internet.

There were few rallies by radical right wing groups in March. On March 4 in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, the Day of Heroes took place, a day which is traditionally marked in memory of the Pskov paratroopers killed at the Argun River gorge. In Moscow, representatives of the organizing committees of the Party of Nationalists and the Russian March movement placed flowers at the memorial to the paratroopers. In Saint Petersburg, about 15 activists from the National Democratic Party gathered at the Serafimovskoe Cemetery, where they placed flowers upon the grave of Lieutenant Dmitry Kozhemyakin, who was killed in Chechnya in 2000.

The participation of nationalists in protests on March 26 organized by Alexei Navalny was episodic.

In Moscow, members of the New Opposition took part in some protests, as did Vyacheslav Maltsev, supporters of the Russian United National Alliance movement (RONA), activists from the Party of Nationalists and the Nation and Freedom Committee. Unfortunately, it is not possible to estimate the number of those who attended the rallies. Among the detainees was Denis Romanov-Russky detained after the rally. It was reported that there were attempts to arrest Maltsev and Mark Galperin, but according to activists, they were repulsed by the crowd.

In Saint Petersburg, Dmitry Bobrov, activists from the Russians association of Saint Petersburg, members of the local division of the Nation and Freedom Committee (Dmitry Lyutayev) were present at rallies. Formally, Bobrov and supporters of Dina Garina positioned themselves as observers of the Navalny rallies, and not as participants in them. Leaders of the local Walks with the Opposition movement were also present. In Vologda, Sergei Guzhev (Russian Vologda) participated in the 26 March rally. In Saratov, after a rally, Sergei Okunev (Vyacheslav Maltsev’s co-host on the Bad News program) and a few others were arrested. In Krasnodar, the coordinator of the Kuban division of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Miroslav Valkovich, also was arrested and imprisoned for 10 days. In Khabarovsk, rally participants clashed with representatives from the National Liberation Movement (NOD), who organized the rally “For Stability and Order”.

In March, we learned about two convictions against three people for racist violence in the Lipetsk and Novosibirsk regions. In particular, in Lipetsk, a conviction was handed down in the sensational case concerning attacks and murder motivated by national hatred as well as arson at the baptismal font of the Lipetsk Diocesan Svyato-Uspensky (Holy Dormition) Monastery. One of the accused was sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment at a high-security penitentiary and the other received six and a half years.

In total, since the beginning of the year, three convictions were made in three Russian regions for violent crimes, in which courts recognized hate as the motive. Five people were convicted during these proceedings.

There were two convictions for xenophobic vandalism in March (and for 2017 as a whole) in the Altai territory and the Lipetsk region, four people were convicted in these cases.

In March, there were 12 convictions made against 13 people for xenophobic propaganda in 12 regions. In total since the start of the year, there were no fewer than 34 convictions handed down to 35 people for racist and other types of propaganda in 28 regions.

The federal list of extremist materials was updated four times during March (on March 2, 7, 16 and 30). Points 4031-4073 were added, including different types of xenophobic materials from social networks, videos of Islamic militants, and an article by Boris Stomakhin.