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

In October 2024, we became aware of no fewer than 30people seriously beaten in hate-motivated attacks. As usual, our sad statistics were mostly filled out by watching videos on far-right Telegram channels with scenes of beatings of people from Central Asia, the Caucasus, homeless people, drunks, or other people whom neo-Nazis consider “disgracing the white race.”

Events of October 24 in the city of Korkino, Chelyabinsk Region, where after the murder of a female taxi driver, local residents staged a pogrom under anti-Roma slogans, caused a loud resonance and were widely covered in Russian media.

So far in 2024, we have recorded 232 cases of serious injury resulting from hate-motivated attacks.

This month, we learned of only one act of xenophobic vandalism – smashing up of an empty outdoor market in Tolyatti, carried out by ultra-right activists on October 13.

Since the beginning of this year, we have recorded 20 acts of xenophobic vandalism.

Far-right public activity kept to its traditional forms during October.

Activists from the “Russian Community” carried out anti-migrant raids.

The “Russian Community” also continued its “fight against blasphemy.” Thus, in Kozelsk, Kaluga Region, the organization complained to the Investigative Committee about a Halloween party at the “Mafia”nightclub. Activists declared the club a place “for gatherings of Satanists and lovers of all kinds of evil spirits” and demanded that it be inspected for insults to the feelings of believers and the legality of business activities. The owner of the club, Artemy Nikolaev, was subsequently summoned to the Investigative Committee, the prosecutor's office, and the police.

In Arkhangelsk, vigilantes, together with the police they had called, showed up at a club for a party called “Beauty Inside,” where they were outraged by the sight of “men in women's dresses and women in men's suits, all kinds of ‘sado-maso,’ various elements of perversion,” and separately noted the presence of students from Central Asia at the event. In addition, having found an image of a cross in the room, the community members contacted the Investigative Committee to organize an investigation into insults to the feelings of believers.

The Community also took part in a police raid on the gay club “Tochka” in Chita, which resulted in a criminal case being opened under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (CC) (organization of the activities of an extremist organization) against the 22-year-old owner of the establishment.

The Russian Community also discovered evil spirits in Samara, where local artists began installing bronze figurines of winged men collecting moonlight, “flying shishigas,” as part of a city art project. The far-right claimed that shishigas in Slavic folklore are “evil spirits in various forms and manifestations,” and that the creators of the figurines were inspired by the image of the “Wroclaw gnomes” of Waldemar Fydrych, the leader of the Orange Alternative, a Polish protest movement of the 1980s, and therefore are “symbols of orange revolutions.” The activists of the Russian Community considered the project to install the figurines “a direct violation” of the president’s 2022 decree on “fundamentals of state policy for the preservation and strengthening of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values” and filed complaints with several authorities at once, starting with the Investigative Committee. Communist Party deputy Mikhail Matveyev promised to “take the appeal into consideration.”

“Call of the People” (Zov naroda) also continued its usual activity of writing complaints to law enforcement agencies – this time, against TV presenter Vladimir Pozner, who was planning to return to Channel One; against singer Nargiz (requesting that she be recognized as a “sponsor of terrorism on the territory of Russia”); and even againststate-backed singer Shaman, with a request to suspend consideration of the application for registration of the trademark “I am Russian,” in particular for alcoholic beverages and toys for adults.

We know of only one sentence handed down in October for a hate-motivated attack. In St. Petersburg, a court sentenced a minor to one year of suspended imprisonment for a xenophobic attack using pepper spray on January 20, 2024, under Article 213 Part 2 CC (hooliganism motivated by hate).

At the end of October, members of a gang of Nazi skinheads led by 19-year-old Sergei Ponomaryov were detained in Yekaterinburg. He is accused under paragraphs "a" and "b" of Article 213 Part 1 CC of attacking three foreigners.

In October, there were also reports of the arrest of two administrators of Project Razgrom, one of the most popular far-right Telegram channels, where videos of hate-motivated attacks were published accompanied by music of modern Russian indie artists. In total, almost 157 videos with 241 attacks were published during the resource’s existence. However, there have been no official statements from law enforcement agencies on this matter, and the specific allegations against the detainees remain unknown.

Since the beginning of the year, we have learned of 13 convictions for xenophobic violence against 33 people, and six convictions for xenophobic vandalism against six people.

We have information about 15 sentences handed down in October for aggressive public statements, in which16 people were convicted:

— Three people were charged under Article 280 CC (public calls for extremist activity) for publications in instant messengers and on social networks calling for violence against ethnic Russians in connection with the Special Military Operation, as well as “officials whose duties include ensuring the security of the Russian Federation.”

— Five people were charged under Article 205.2 CC (public calls for terrorist activity or justification thereof) for comments on Telegram and VKontakte approving violence, including the terrorist attack committed on July 22, 2011, in Norway by Anders Breivik, and the shelling of Belgorod by the Ukrainian armed forces on February 15, 2024.

— Three people were charged under a combination of Articles 280 and 205.2 CC for comments on VKontakte and Telegram calling for violence against migrants, members of the United Russia party and their families, military personnel participating in the Special Military Operation, Vladimir Putin and Ramzan Kadyrov personally, as well as other senior officials.

— One person, a prisoner in a penal colony in Khakassia, was charged under Article 354.1 CC (public rehabilitation of Nazism) — for agitation in a prison cell in the presence of four people. We doubt that a conversation with four people can be called “public.”

— Two people were charged under Article 282 CC (incitement to hatred) for comments in a messenger calling for violent actions against government officials and their relatives.

— Two people were charged under a combination of Article 205.2 CC and a number of other articles on terrorism for posting leaflets in public places in St. Petersburg and the Novgorod Region calling for people to join the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion, which are recognized as terrorist organizations.

Seven of the 16 people were sentenced to imprisonment, one to a suspended sentence, seven to fines, and one to correctional labor.

Some of those sentenced to imprisonment were convicted under other articles of the Criminal Code, or were already in prison. Two people were sent to prison for statements made in the absence of circumstances known to us that would have led to a prison sentence. A resident of Samara was sentenced under paragraph "a" of Article 282 Part 2 CC (incitement of hatred with the threat of violence) to three and a half years in a minimum-security penal colony for comments under a post in a messenger app featuring a negative assessment of representatives of state authorities and calls for “committing violent and hostile actions against the said persons and their relatives.”Meanwhile, 25-year-old Ulkyar Gashimova in Dagestan was sentenced to four and a half years in a minimum-security penal colony under Article 205.2 Part 2 and Article 280 Part 2 CC for anti-war comments on Telegram.

Since the beginning of the year, we have learned of 219 sentences for aggressive public statements, handed down against 232 people.

In October, information emerged about 12 new such criminal cases brought against 12 people.

Last month we learned of eight sentences against 21 people for participating in the activities of Citizens of the USSR, the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, AUE, the Russian Volunteer Corps, and the Freedom of Russia legion.

We also learned of four other new criminal cases opened in October, against four people.

Since the beginning of the year, we have learned of 71 sentences against 120 people in cases of involvement in recognized extremist or terrorist communities and organizations, excluding sentences we consider to be patently inappropriate.

We have information about only three people fined in October under Article 20.29 of theCode of Administrative Offenses (CAO) (production and distribution of extremist materials). These people were sanctioned for publishing on VKontakte the popular Russian ultra-right films “Romper Stomper” and “Russia 88,” as well as a song promoting the AUE subculture. Since the beginning of the year, we have learned about 87 people fined for distributing materials featured on the Federal List of Extremist Materials.

We also learned of 15 court decisions made this month under Article 20.3 CAO for publicly displaying Nazi symbols or symbols of banned organizations. Two people were punished for Nazi tattoos. Another two were punished for drawing such symbols outside and inside buildings. One was punished for making a fascist salute in the street. The rest were punished for sharing various materials with symbols associated with the Nazis, ISIS and the Azov Regiment on VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, and Telegram. In six out of 15 cases, administrative arrest was imposed; in the rest, it was a fine. In total, since the beginning of the year, we have learned of 607 cases of punishment for such offenses.

We have information about five people punished under Article 20.3.1 CAO (incitement to hatred) for posting aggressive xenophobic statements on VKontakte. Four were fined, one was sentenced to administrative arrest.

Since the beginning of the year, we have learned of 285 court decisions made under Article 20.3.1 CAO for aggressive statements.

The Federal List of Extremist Materials was updated three times, on October 21, 24, and 29. A well-known anti-Semitic image, two Ukrainian songs directed against the Russian military, a collection of articles by the theorist of Ukrainian nationalism Dmitro Dontsov, Moskovska Otruta, and a Russian translation of the book by historian Serhii Plokhy, The Russo-Ukrainian War (published by the W. W. Norton & Company in 2023; this decision seems unlawful to us) were added to the list under items 5444–5448.

In October, the Tatar People's Party “Vozrozhdenie” was added to the Federal List of Extremist Organizations, having been recognized as extremist by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan on August 6, 2024.

The anarchist group “Concept ANV” (Vanguard of the People's Will) was added to the list of organizations recognized as terrorist in October. Its members are suspected of preparing the explosion of the TPP-2 power station in Tyumen in 2022. The group was recognized as terrorist by the Central District Military Court on May 16, 2024.