The following is our review of anti-extremist law enforcement in August 2025.

In August, we became aware of 11 sentences made against 12 people involved in extremist and terrorist communities and organizations whose activities we track, including the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), the Freedom of Russia Legion (LSR), Artpodgotovka, NS/WP and AUE. We consider four such sentences to be inappropriate – all four were in connection with money transfers to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) after it was deemed an extremist organization.

Eight people were sentenced to prison time, and four were fined. In one case, compulsory medical treatment was ordered.

In total, since the beginning of the year, we have recorded 157 such sentences against 255 people. Of these, we consider 84 sentences against 127 to be patently improper.

Over the course of the month, at least 13 cases related to participation in organizations were initiated on the basis of Criminal Code articles of particular interest to us. The defendants were, in particular, five “citizens of the USSR” in Moscow and in Sochi, as well as two alleged participants in the banned Islamic party Hizb Ut-Tahrir. In five cases, the charges arise out of donations to the FBK (according to our information or assumptions).

We have information about 50 sentences handed down in August in relation to public statements. In 17 of these cases, the charges, according to our assessment, were completely or partially inappropriate.

• Nine people were convicted of ethno-xenophobic statements: six – for posts online (VKontakte, Telegram and YouTube) featuring comments directed against natives of the Caucasus, Jews, Muslims and other nationalities; two for demonstrating tattoos with Nazi symbols, and one for shouting threats at ethnic Russians.

• Three people were convicted for statements classified as propaganda or justification of violent actions on religious grounds.

• Four people were convicted for statements on social media (two cases on Odnoklassniki, and two on VKontakte) directed against the state.

• Twenty six people were convicted for statements related in some way to the armed conflict with Ukraine. We consider thirteen of these to be completely or partially inappropriate.

• Six people were convicted for statements that the authorities regarded as encroaching on traditional Russian values ​​and symbols. In four of these cases, we consider the prosecution to have been clearly inappropriate.

• Two people were convicted for repeat demonstration of banned symbols of AUE (one of the two also demonstrated a tattoo featuring a Nazi symbol).

Forty-one of 50 people were convicted for statements made online; four made their statements offline; and one was convicted for both.

In 24 out of 45 cases in which the type of punishment is known, it was prison; in nine, suspended sentences; four defendants were fined; five sentenced to forced labor, two to mandatory and one to correctional. In addition, a court mandated compulsory medical measures for one person .

In the absence of information about the circumstances contributing to a prison sentence, 21 people were sentenced to such punishments.

This year to date, we have recorded 361 convictions of 378 people on the basis of statements. Of these, we consider 99 convictions of 105 people to have been completely or partially inappropriate.

According to our data, there were also 33 new criminal cases initiated in August, against the same number of defendants, for such public statements.

We noted 29 court decisions on administrative offenses issued in August under Article 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO) (incitement to hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity) – mainly for xenophobic statements in VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, Telegram and WhatsApp with regards to natives of Central Asia and the Caucasus, Jews, Ossetians, Roma, Muslims, non-Muslims, etc. Three people were placed under administrative arrest, and the rest were fined. We consider four of the prosecutions to have been inappropriate: these are punishments for sharp statements about police officers, the government, as well as about citizens of Russia as a whole.

This year to date, we have recorded 450 court rulings under Article 20.3.1 CAO. We consider ninety-six of them to be inappropriate.

We know about only three individuals fined in August under Article 20.29 CAO (production and distribution of extremist materials). The charges followed posts on VKontakte sharing songs popular with neo-Nazis, as well as a comment that included a banned slogan (either “Russia for [ethnic] Russians”, or “Orthodoxy or death”).

This year to date, we have now recorded 115 cases of sanctioning over dissemination of materials included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials. We consider thirty five of these to be improper.

The Federal List of Extremist Materials itself was update once, on August 21, to account for new entries 5477–5482. These were posts by participants of the “Citizens of the USSR” movement to one of their groups on VKontakte.

In August, three entries were added to the Federal List of Extremist Organizations: the Omsk Slavic Association; yet another “association” of businessmen led by Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov; as well as an “association” of Ukrainian businessmen and politicians consisting of the brothers Anatoly and Vladimir Drobotov.

The Free Russia Forum (in which one Alexander Skobov was convicted of participation in 2025) was added to the Federal List of Terrorist Organizations, as well as the community called “Join the VKP(b)” and its Omsk cell. As to the latter, Omsk native Maksim Prikhodko was convicted in 2024 for the creation of this community, as well as the planning of terrorist attacks.