Russian Nationalism and Xenophobia in March 2024

The following is our monthly review of instances of xenophobia and radical nationalism, along with any government countermeasures, for March 2024.

SOVA Center became aware of 16 hate-motivated attacks committed this March. The targets of attack during this month were first and foremost people native to the Caucasus and Central Asia, and others stated to be of “non-Slavic appearance.” No fewer than four serious attacks were committed after the March 22 terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue and were purported to have been committed in “revenge.”

In 2024 to date, we have recorded 45 hate-motivated attacks. While our monitoring has not shown any instances of xenophobically-motivated vandalism in March 2024, there have been two such acts so far this year, according to our data.

In addition to the serious attacks noted above, beginning on March 22, far-right Telegram channels have reported at least 25 minor street attacks with gas canisters on people of “non-Slavic appearance,” including two girls in hijabs. Of these 25 incidents, five attacks were directly described as “revenge for the terrorist attack.” We would note that there were 27 such “minor” incidents prior to the terrorist attack in March; that is, there was a significant increase in activity in the last week of March. The total number of acts of far-right violence this month was approximately twice as high as in the previous month, which, however, cannot be attributed specifically to the terrorist attack. In addition, it was in the last week of March that most Russian schools had holidays, and such attacks are usually committed by teenagers, including schoolchildren. It is possible that the increase in violent incidents during this week may be associated with the excess of free time.

Other acts of “revenge for the terrorist attack” were also recorded – for example, slashed tires on cars with license plates from Chechnya, Dagestan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. On March 24, a video appeared in one of the far-right channels with an unknown person throwing a bag with a pig’s head onto the territory of a mosque during prayer.

Against the backdrop of the terrorist attack, the Russian far right actively published scenes of torture used during the detention of the alleged terrorists. On March 25, a call for racist attacks in connection with the terrorist attack appeared in one of the popular ultra-violent Telegram channels; it was replicated by other resources.

Fighters from the Española fan unit participating in the Special Military Operation in Ukraine, recorded an appeal from the battleground, demanding that authorities “immediately tighten migration policy and punish those responsible for bringing terrorists to Russia.”

Other racist incidents were recorded at the end of March. One, on March 24 in the Moscow metro, gained media coverage when far-right activists surrounded a Yakut woman and began chanting racist chants.

Ultra-right activists from the Russian Community (Russkaya Obschina, RO) continued to conduct “raids.” In the Krasnodar Territory, an RO squad – together with security forces from Center “E” – participated in activities to identify undocumented migrants. In Moscow, the RO fought against spontaneous retail outlets that are, according to community members, organized by migrants, near the Kotelniki metro station. In Obninsk, the RO participated in a raid by the state traffic inspectorate to combat illegal taxis, and checked drivers’ documents.

The RO was active not only in the fight against migrants. In Orenburg, community members, together with the police and the Russian National Guard, raided a nightclub in search of “LGBT propaganda.” However, the RO report on the incident especially emphasized that among the participants in the club’s “specific events” they found citizens of the republics of Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. And on March 8, community members from Kaluga conducted a raid on the city’s nightclubs and entertainment venues, as various striptease projects and “intimate” shows were announced as part of International Women’s Day.

We do not have sentencing information for violent hate crimes in March. Since the beginning of the year, we have become aware of three sentences for xenophobic violence handed down against 10 people, and two sentences against two people for acts of xenophobic vandalism.

Meanwhile, we are aware of 20 convictions, of the same number of people, on the basis of aggressive statements.

They include:

• Six people convicted under Article 280 of the Criminal Code (CC) (public calls for extremist activities) for publishing comments on social networks, mainly on VKontakte, calling for violence against non-Russians, infidels (i.e., those who do not profess Islam), police officers and government officials.

• Seven people convicted under Article 205.2 CC (public calls for terrorist activities) for publications on social networks (in all cases, on VKontakte) of certain calls for terrorist activities, and in one case, calls for attacks on educational institutions.

• One person convicted on a combined charge of both articles for comments in a Telegram group under various photographs with “calls for terrorist activities against the Moscow Channel and extremist activities against ethnic Russians.”

• Three people convicted under Part 1 of Article 282.4 CC (repeated propaganda or public display of Nazi symbols). The 19-year-old leader of an ultra-right group of football fans from Tula was convicted of wearing a T-shirt with extremist symbols and a “Tula Skinheads” sticker. Previously, he was brought to justice for distributing extremist materials. Two people were punished for repeatedly displaying AUE symbols.

• A colony inmate in Mordovia, serving a life sentence, received another sentence under Article 354.1 CC (rehabilitation of Nazism) for “showing Nazi symbols to other convicts and expressing approval of the actions of Nazi Germany during the war, including genocide.”

• One person was punished under Article 280.4 CC (calls for activities directed against state security) for calls published in a messenger app to set fire to military registration and enlistment offices.

• One person was convicted under four CC articles at once: under Article 205.2 – for publishing in a group chat on Telegram a call for reprisals against the governor of the Amur region; paragraph "c" of Part 2 of Article 280.4 – for posting in a Telegram group a video of the pro-Ukrainian underground movement “Atesh,” with “calls for the secret transfer of information about the positions of military personnel and equipment, and sabotage of military facilities”; under Part 3 of Article 208, using Part 1 of Article 30 (preparing to participate in an illegal armed group outside Russia) – for attempting to join the Freedom of Russia legion; and under Part 2 of Article 214 (vandalism motivated by political hatred) for a certain inscription on a table “Moscow – Vladivostok.” We consider application of Article 214 in this case to be improper.

• Ten people were sentenced to imprisonment (all, in conjunction with some other CC articles, or being already in prison): three people, to suspended sentences, five, to fines, one – to community service and another – to compulsory labor.

In total, since the beginning of the year, we have recorded 50 sentences issued against 51 people for aggressive public statements.

In March, we learned of four verdicts against seven people for participation in extremist and terrorist communities and organizations. In particular, in the Krasnodar Krai, four members of the ultra-right group “Community” (Obschina) from Temryuk were convicted under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.1 CC (creation and participation in an extremist community). Members of the group held meetings where they discussed and planned attacks, and arson of cars and commercial facilities. Two of the group’s organizers were sentenced to six and six and a half years in a minimum-security penal colony, while two participants were sentenced to compulsory labor and corrective labor. Three more people were convicted under Article 282.1 and Article 282.2 (participation in the activities of an extremist organization) for involvement in the Ukrainian Right Sector and the criminal subculture A.U.E.

Since the beginning of the year, we have recorded nine sentences against 19 people for participation in extremist and terrorist communities and organizations.

We have information about three people who were fined in March under Article 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO) (production and distribution of extremist materials) for social media posts of popular far-right songs “Honor and Blood” by the group Kolovrat and “Shavenheaded Muscovites” by the group Shmeli. In total, since the beginning of the year, we have learned of 15 people fined for distributing materials from the Federal List of Extremist Materials.

We also became aware of 24 people punished in March under Article 20.3 CAO (propaganda and public display of prohibited symbols). The majority were brought to justice for sharing materials with Nazi symbols, symbols of the Caucasus Emirate and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) via social networks (VKontakte, Odnoklassniki) and Telegram groups. Eight people were punished for acts committed offline: one of them pasted an image of the Zig rune on the trunk of his car. Four painted swastikas on houses and cars. Meanwhile, three prison inmates showed others their own swastika tattoos. Eight (out of 24) were placed under administrative arrest, while the rest were fined. In total, since the beginning of the year, we have learned about 95 cases where penalties were imposed for such offenses.

Further, we have information about 12 people who faced administrative sanctioning for aggressive statements under Article 20.3.1 CAO (incitement to hatred). All of them were held accountable for posting statements on social networks (VKontakte, Instagram), Telegram and WhatsApp groups directed against natives of the Caucasus and Central Asia, Jews, non-Russians in general, ethnic Russians, Muslims, Christians, police, civil servants and children with disabilities. One person was sentenced to corrective labor, while the rest were fined. In total, since the beginning of the year, we have become aware of 58 such court decisions.

The Federal List of Extremist Materials was updated once this month, on March 11. Two points were added: under item 5418, an anti-Semitic leaflet from one of the Citizens of the USSR associations, which was deemed extremist by the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court on December 7, 2023. Members of the organization sent these “notification” leaflets to official bodies demanding the transfer of power and rights to property; under item 5419, the list included an article from the newspaper Bulletin of the Balkar People published by the public organization “Council of Elders of the Balkar People of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic,” which was liquidated on March 9, 2023 by the Nalchik City Court.

On March 1, under item 106, the non-existent “LGBT International Public Movement” was added to the Federal List of Extremist Organizations. This fictive organization was deemed extremist by decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on November 30, 2023. We consider this decision to be improper.