A nationwide vigilante network How police backing and holy blessings helped Russkaya Obshchina become Russia’s largest far-right group
Emboldened by support from senior law enforcement officials and a political climate more hospitable to xenophobic violence, far-right activists from “Russkaya Obshchina” (Russian Community) are increasingly involved in attacks, vigilante raids, and coordinated harassment. They typically target migrants from nations to the south or even compatriots from Russia's North Caucasus. With cells active in regions across the country, the group is now Russia’s largest far-right organization. In a new report, journalists from Mediazona examine Russkaya Obshchina’s rapid growth and its involvement in the recent death of an Armenian man outside St. Petersburg. Meduza summarizes their findings.
Some power in your corner
Russkaya Obshchina members rarely face criminal repercussions for their vigilantism. In fact, the group has close ties to Russia’s law enforcement establishment and regularly acts as muscle during police raids on migrant communities, when officials conduct unannounced checks of residence papers and work permits. Vera Alperovich, an expert at the Sova Center, told Mediazona that the police even welcome this assistance because of personnel shortages. When officers arrive to document incidents involving Russkaya Obshchina activists, the far-right group always manages to “impose its interpretation of the conflict,” Alperovich said. She added that victims often don’t even bother trying to explain what happened.
In the summer of 2024, activists in St. Petersburg rallied alongside “Russian taxi drivers” against “southern gypsy cabbies,” leading to attacks that resulted in a rare police response: a dozen men from Russkaya Obshchina were arrested and briefly jailed. But the story didn’t end there.
Soon after, Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s Federal Investigative Committee, intervened on the activists’ behalf. On his orders, the agency opened a case against the arresting officers on suspicion of exceeding their authority by detaining the Russkaya Obshchina members. State prosecutors have twice closed the case, but Bastrykin has yet to back down. In September 2024, he demanded a third time that officials move forward with a case against the arresting officers.
Engaged and online
Russkaya Obshchina has a large following on social media: 1.2 million YouTube subscribers, more than 750,000 VKontakte community members, and nearly 650,000 Telegram readers. On these platforms, the group mainly shares news about fighting “newcomers” from Central Asia and battling “ethnic gangs” from the North Caucasus. This includes reports about crackdowns on street trading organized by “outsider vendors” and accounts of the organization's members attacking “gay parties.”
The group also operates a special helpline where users registered with Russkaya Obshchina’s official mobile app can summon the organization’s vigilantes by clicking an “SOS button.”
Also online, Russkaya Obshchina figures like Andrey Tkachuk regularly live-stream, covering “major news stories” involving migrants. The group also mobilizes “cyber troops” for coordinated appeals to the police, directing complaints about comic books, live music, and other cultural content deemed to be insufficiently Orthodox.
To support Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, Russkaya Obshchina activists buy equipment for Russian military personnel and even conduct training sessions where they teach men to storm buildings using small arms and grenades. Women in the organization knit wool socks for soldiers and weave camouflage nets.
Not a blank check
Asmik Novikova, an expert at the human rights foundation Public Verdict, told Mediazona that the Russian authorities “sometimes delegate” their monopoly on violence, allowing limited forms of “privatization.” However, Russkaya Obshchina has encountered some limits. In Magnitogorsk, the local police chief promised to “reeducate” nationalists who behave “incorrectly” during anti-migrant raids. Russkaya Obshchina responded by criticizing the local police department.
In May 2025, the group drew criticism from Adam Delimkhanov, an influential State Duma deputy and a close associate of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Commenting on Russkaya Obshchina activists attacking Ingush people in the Vladimir region, Delimkhanov called the incident “pure nationalism and lawlessness” and demanded an investigation. Within a few days, police had arrested three suspects and opened a criminal case.
Russkaya Obshchina has enjoyed support not just from police officials like Alexander Bastrykin but also from cultural figures. For example, rapper Roma Zhigan recently called on the organization's activists to conduct raids in clubs and fight against “the corruption of women.”
The group’s Christian fundamentalism has also won allies in the Russian Orthodox Church, particularly over their shared opposition to women’s reproductive rights. In February 2025, Archbishop Savva addressed a Russkaya Obshchina gathering in Moscow and conveyed Patriarch Kirill’s blessings.
Russkaya Obshchina’s rise in popularity coincides with the state authorities’ escalating anti-migrant rhetoric in the aftermath of the March 2024 terrorist attack on a music venue outside Moscow, which killed more than 140 people. The four men charged with carrying out the massacre are all citizens of Tajikistan. “If at first there were some isolated incidents, the ‘Crocus’ [concert hall] attack served to accelerate their development significantly,” Sova Center expert Vera Alperovich told Mediazona.
Public Verdict expert Asmik Novikova says that Russkaya Obshchina activists risk losing their criminal immunity when their actions become too violent. The group is permitted to carry out raids and “flex power,” explained Novikova, but “crippling and torturing people” is unacceptable. “Otherwise, we’ll start treating you like a criminal gang.”
Russkaya Obshchina nearly crossed this line in early May 2025, when several activists stormed an apartment in Vsevolozhsk, leading to a skirmish and a fire that killed at least one man, a 37-year-old Armenian national named Gor Ovakimyan. At the time of this writing, there are still no suspects in his death, and officials will not even confirm that an investigation is underway.
Weeks later, on May 28, federal investigators announced the arrest of three Russkaya Obshchina members in a separate case involving the kidnapping and torture of someone in a forest outside the city of Kovrov. Spokespeople for the far-right organization say the assailants were still in their “probationary period,” meaning they aren’t full-fledged members. Mediazona learned that their victim, a local teenager, is a former activist with Russkaya Obshchina.
Original Mediazona report by Pavel Vasiliyev
Summary by Kevin Rothrock