Racism and Xenophobia in June 2013

The following is our monthly review of incidences of xenophobia and radical nationalism, along with any government countermeasures, for June 2013. The review is based on material gathered by Sova Center in the course of our daily monitoring.

We are not aware of any victims of racist or xenophobic attacks during the period under report. Since the beginning of this year, six people have been killed and 76 have been injured in racist or neo-Nazi attacks in 22 regions of Russia, with two other people receiving serious threats against their lives.

This June saw no fewer than two acts of vandalism motivated by hatred or neo-Nazi ideology: the targets were a synagogue in Smolensk and a mosque in Ivanovo. Since the beginning of 2013, we have recorded no fewer than 27 of such incidents in Russia.

By far the most significant nationalist action this June was their participation in the attack on a geological survey project’s camp in the Voronezh region in protest of the extraction of nickel from the Elansky nickel and copper deposit. On June 22, about a thousand people led by nationalists and Cossacks broke into the encampment and set fire to drill rigs and buildings. It has not been made clear who exactly organized or participated in the attack, but local media and law enforcement point to nationalists in masks. They are thought to have arrived by bus from nearby cities like Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Samara and Krasnodar, in addition to Voronezh.

Nationalists are more and more often employing violence against LGBT rights rallies and other actions, even when they are protected by the police (for example on June 29 in St. Petersburg). On June 25 a group of more than 30 nationalists blocked the entrance to a court building where a decision on whether to declare the LGBT rights organization Vykhod (‘Exit,’ as in coming out) as a ‘foreign agent’ was underway. As such, nobody involved in the defense, even lawyers, were able to enter the court. In this case, nationalists directly prevented the administration of justice.

Raids on migrant workers’ residences are also becoming more and more popular among radical right-wing factions. As of spring 2013 one of the most active groups in this area was the Shield of Moscow headed by FC Lokomotiv hooligan Alexey Khudyakov, who is also closely affiliated with the Young Russia movement. On June 28 Shield of Moscow activists broke into a dormitory residence on Fabritsius Street in Moscow, leading to a clash with Central Asian residents. The raid’s participants threatened the migrant workers with traumatic weapons.

There were few nationalist rallies during the period under report. One public event of note was a general opposition march on June 12 devoted to ‘prisoners of Bolotnaya,’ those detained at mass protests on Bolotnaya Square. No more than 100 nationalists participated. On the same day, in Lublino, nationalists held their own event entitled For Legitimate Power and Genuine Sovereignty, with estimates ranging between 100 and 300 participants.

It is also worth noting the June 4 Yermolovsky annual march in Orel, which drew about 140 people.

Ultra-right factions have made it a habit to attempt to coopt or spin violent conflicts involving people of different nationalities. The most notable in recent days was a situation in the Tver region town of Udomlya. After a fight between a few ethnic Russian locals and natives of the Caucasus, a rally ‘against ethnic crime’ was held on June 8. Police estimate that between 300 and 400 people attended. The Russian Party leader Nikolai Bondarik participated directly in the action.

June 2013 saw only a single conviction in a case of racist violence motivated by hate, with the ruling in Volgograd. Since the beginning of the year there have been 18 such convictions, against 29 people.

There were at least 14 rulings against as many people and in as many regions of Russia for xenophobic propaganda in June 2013. Since the beginning of the year there have been no fewer than 50 such decisions in 33 regions of the country, with 50 people convicted (including those who have not been punished because of an expired statute of limitations or who were sent for compulsory treatment).

The Federal List of Extremist Materials was updated once this month, with entries 1915-1920. The additions include a book by NOMP leader Vladimir Kvachkov, racist and Islamist materials, and an educational brochure on Islam.

On June 28, the Moscow City Court banned the Autonomous Terrorist Combat Organization (ABTO), whose members in 2009-2010 carried out eight terror attacks against law enforcement officers and visitors from the Caucasus. ABTO was banned as a terrorist organization, not as an extremist one, marking the first time in Russia that a radical right-wing group has been considered as such – and also the first time a non-Islamist group has been banned as such.