The following is our monthly review of instances of xenophobia and radical nationalism, along with any government countermeasures, for June 2026.

In June 2026, we became aware of 15 people who were victims of hate crimes. Since the beginning of the year, we have learned of a total of 96 hate crimes, including one murder. Over the past two years, most of these incidents have been reported in far-right Telegram channels.

We have learned of six acts of xenophobic vandalism that occurred in June. One of these acts targeted a religious site with an attack on a mosque in Vladimir. Additionally, videos of arson attacks on street vegetable stalls and migrant housing were posted in these Telegram channels. In total, we have learned of 13 acts of xenophobic vandalism that occurred over the past six months.

In June, the “Russian Community”, Russian Druzhina, and Northern Man conducted their traditional vigilante raids, with approximately 14 raids per week, about ten of them anti-migrant.

The police seem to be paying more attention to the illegal activities of these “helpers.” In St. Petersburg, two “supporters of a public association that aims to promote public control over law and order” were detained for allegedly kidnapping a teenager. A group of young people, posing as law enforcement officers, had entered the apartment of a minor, presented their identification cards as members of a “public association,” forcibly detained the minor, handcuffed him, and transported him to a police station in a car. The vigilantes claimed that they had received information from an “unidentified source” about the minor's involvement in criminal activities.

The “Russian Community” expressed their outrage over the fact that migrants had been filming the drone attack on Moscow with their mobile phones. “This continuous video recording of the hits and results of attacks... the performance of the weapons systems is being monitored 24/7. ... We can only guess where they're sending all of this,” the community members said.

Nationalists continue to oppose any initiatives that promote multiculturalism. The “Russian Community” reacted extremely negatively to the Minister of Education's announcement that the Arabic language study program would be introduced in Russian schools on September 1. They called this decision “another step towards the Islamization of our children” in Russia. Meanwhile, the “Movement of Nationalists” began distributing a sample petition to kindergarten directors in order to “protect children from forced participation in Uzbek folk dances, socialization with the Azerbaijani diaspora, and similar events.”

We are unaware of any sentencesissued in June for ideologically motivated attacks. However, we have learned of three cases against nine individuals that were opened in June for such attacks. Among those detained in the past month are:

• seven far-right residentsfrom St. Petersburg who refer to themselves as the “Russian National Army”and are suspected of committing three attacks on alleged ideological opponents;

• a coordinator detained in the Altai region and “the most active members” of the neo-Nazi network NNF 131 from various regions, suspected of carrying out knife attacks and arson of retail outlets;

• a coordinator of the misanthropic organizations ETERSSA and MKU, accused of managing two social media communities that planned murders, attacks on schoolchildren, arson, and mass distribution of false bomb threats to educational institutions in various cities across Russia, Ukraine, post-Soviet and Western countries.

In total, we are aware of 13 sentences handed downagainst 26 individuals for xenophobic violenceduring the first half of the year.

We do not have information about any verdicts issued in June for xenophobic vandalism, but we have learned of one new case involving two individuals. In total, we are aware of four sentenceshanded down since the beginning of the year against six individualsfor acts of xenophobic vandalism.

We address prosecution under other provisions of anti-extremism legislation in a separate review.