We are publishing a review of anti-extremist enforcement in March 2026 as it applies to public speech, organized activity, and attacks on physical objects unrelated to xenophobia.

We have learned of 28 sentences handed down in March against 30 people on charges of involvement in extremist and terrorist groups and organizations whose activities we monitor.

Two people were convicted of collaborating with Russian Volunteer Corps (Russkiy dobrovolcheskiy korpus, RDK) and four others – for collaborating with the Freedom of Russia Legion (Legion “Svoboda Rossii,” LSR). Two people were found guilty of financing Artpodgotovka. At least two were sentenced for their involvement with the AUE criminal subculture. One person was convicted of collaborating with the Council of United Circassia (Sovet obyedinennoy Cherkesii), which Russian authorities consider a subdivision of the Free Nations of PostRussia Forum (Forum Svobodnykh Gosudarstv PostRossii) movement.

We consider 16 sentences against 18 individuals completely or partially inappropriate. They include sentences to 11 Russians for donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) after it was designated an extremist organization; to the producer of the YouTube channel Navalny LIVE (tried in absentia); to the head of the Samara-based organization Irida and the manager of a gay club in Chita on charges of involvement in an “international LGBT movement”; and to four Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The courts sentenced 21 people to actual imprisonment, eight to fines, and one person to compulsory labor.

We learned that at least 18 such cases were opened in March against 30 individuals (excluding the AUE-related cases). The charges included ties to unnamed far-right organizations or Jehovah's Witnesses communities, as well as financing Artpodgotovka and the FBK.

Since the beginning of the year, we have learned of 82 court decisions in such cases; punishments have been imposed on 92 individuals. Of these, at least one person was referred for compulsory psychiatric treatment in 2026, and one case was discontinued due to the defendant’s death. We consider 40 sentences against 46 individuals to be fully or partially inappropriate.

We have information on 35 sentences against 38 people issued in March that involved relevant Criminal Code articles on public speech. We view 12 such sentences against 12 people as inappropriate.

The convictions can be grouped into the following partly overlapping categories based on the statements’ targets:

• Two people were convicted for pro-Nazi statements. One of them faced sanctions for posting on Telegram a video that endorsed the activities of the misanthropic movement Maniacs. Murder Cult (Manyaki. Kult Ubiystv, MKU). The other convicted individual, blogger Arsen Markaryan, appears to have been inappropriately charged with expressing approval for the activities of Nazi criminals during World War II.
• Nine people (four of them penal colony inmates) – for radical Islamist propaganda.
• Twenty-five people were convicted for statements regarding the armed conflict with Ukraine; we classified the sentences issued to 10 of them – including the verdicts against two journalists from TV Rain (Dozhd) and journalist Ksenia Luchenko – as clearly inappropriate.
• Four people faced sanctions for statements that the authorities deemed an attack on traditional Russian values and symbols. In three such cases, we consider the charges clearly unfounded: the case of Rostov journalist Sergei Reznik, who compared Russia's actions with the policies of Nazi Germany; the aforementioned Markaryan, who made offensive remarks about Alexander Matrosov, a hero of the Great Patriotic War; and Polina Yevtushenko, who published an offensive image related to war veterans. Each of these cases involved other charges, which we evaluate separately.
• Three people were convicted for other statements against the authorities made in messengers and social networks. We classified one of these verdicts as inappropriate.

30 individuals were convicted for statements made online, and five for statements made offline.

33 defendants were sentenced to imprisonment, two to fines, and one received a suspended sentence.

For 21 people sentenced to imprisonment for public speech in March, we are not aware of any specific circumstances that would have led to such sentences.

Since the beginning of 2026, we have learned of 106 convictions for public speech against 109 individuals. Of these, one defendant was acquitted, and one was referred for compulsory treatment. We classified 31 convictions against 31 individuals as completely or partially inappropriate.

We have information on 22 new criminal cases related to public speech, opened in March against 22 people under the articles of interest to us.

In March, at least two verdicts, in which we have no basis to impute the motive of national or religious hatred, were issued for attacks on property under the articles of interest to us. The actions of a group of young people who climbed an obelisk were recognized as desecration of a symbol of military glory in Crimea. In the Perm Region, an intoxicated villager's attempt to extinguish an Eternal Flame was also recognized as such.

In March, we recorded 37 rulings on administrative offenses issued by courts under Article 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (incitement to hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity). These rulings involved xenophobic statements posted on VKontakte, Telegram, and YouTube and directed against migrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia, Roma, Russians, Jews, Muslims, and Orthodox Christians.

36 rulings were issued for online actions, and one for offline incident, which involved insulting a neighbor based on ethnicity in the presence of witnesses.

We view six decisions to impose punishment as clearly inappropriate. These include sanctions for harsh language directed at law enforcement officers (without any calls for violence) or for criticism of public officials and supporters of the government. One case, which in our assessment did not warrant government intervention, involved statements about non-Muslims.

In two cases, defendants faced administrative arrest; the others resulted in administrative fines.

Since the beginning of the year, we have learned of 162 court decisions under Article 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO). We classified 24 of them as inappropriate.

At least one person was fined in March under Article 20.3.2 Part 2 CAO (public calls for violating Russia's territorial integrity, committed on the Internet). A former member of the parliament of Yakutia was punished for peacefully discussing the "free will" and independence of the Sakha people. In total, we know of three people punished under this article since the beginning of the year.

We are aware of six fines imposed on one individual under Article 20.29 CAO (mass distribution of extremist materials) for posting videos by the far-right group Format 18 on VKontakte. In total, we have learned of 11 cases of penalties imposed under Article 20.29 CAO since the beginning of the year, four of which we consider inappropriate.

The Federal List of Extremist Materials was not updated in March.

In March, two “associations of individuals” were added to the Federal List of Extremist Organizations. One such association included Viktor Kisly and Malik Khatazhaev, the respective owners of Wargaming and Lesta Games, which developed the games World of Tanks and its Russian adaptation, Mir Tankov. The other association, according to prosecutors and the court, involved the Bulgaria-registered NGO For a Free Russia, founded by Alexander Zaitsev – a former co-owner of the Tambov-based Internet provider Lanta – and his wife, Margarita. In addition to the Zaitsev family, other Lanta owners were also named as participants of the extremist “association”.

Anti-Corruption Foundation Inc. (a.k.a. ACF, ACF International, Fond borby s korruptsiyey, Inc.), an American non-profit corporation, was added to the list of terrorist organizations in March. It was recognized as terrorist by the Supreme Court on November 27, 2025. It is the principal organization of Navalny’s followers in exile.

Sanctions for hate-motivated crimes against the person or property are reviewed separately.