Russian Nationalists who Were Opposed to War in Ukraine have Almost Disappeared, SOVA Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Feb. 13 – Russian nationalists who initially formed part of the opposition to Putin’s war in Ukraine, with some of them even going to fight for Kyiv against Moscow, have largely disappeared, SOVA says, the result of both repressive measures taken by the Kremlin and the increasing convergence between Putin’s policies and Russian nationalism more generally.
    The regime’s repressive means have drawn greater attention, but the human rights monitoring organization has highlighted the way in which the Kremlin’s growing support for Russian nationalist ideas and involvement of groups like the Russian Community have played a role (sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/publications/2025/02/d50995/).
    This convergence and the support the regime has given to the extreme Russian nationalists has grown, but it may prove counterproductive, SOVA suggests in its latest report. On the one hand, the use of groups like the Russian Community for police work highlights the relative weakness of the official siloviki.
    And on the other, the regime’s willingness to provide arms and training to the far right and the constant militarization of these groups means that groups now allied with the government may turn on it either with regard to specific issues or against the regime as a whole, much as the radical right did to a certain extent at the end of tsarist times.