‘We Will Conquer the Motherland’: How Russian Nationalists in Exile Legitimise Their Fight Against Putin’s Regime

Abstract

After the split amongst Russian nationalists in 2014 over their approach to events in Ukraine, many of them had to leave Russia to avoid repression. Some travelled to Ukraine to support the Ukrainians in their fight against pro-Russian rebel proxies. How do these Russian nationalists legitimise their fight against Putin’s regime and the Russian state? This article argues that their refusal to accept the legitimacy of the Russian state and their linking of Putin’s authoritarian regime to Soviet totalitarianism allow them to legitimise their oppositional political activities, including their involvement in the conflict on the Ukrainian side up to and including the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The term ‘White(s)’ refers to the use of the colour white by the royalists during the French Revolution, which was replicated by the Russians to identify the monarchist faction during the Russian Civil War (Laruelle & Karnysheva 2020, p. 114).

2 ‘Rights in Russia Interview with Aleksandr Verkhovskiy, Director of the Sova Centre, based in Moscow’, YouTube, 11 April 2021, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x49LWJCj3dg&t=118s&ab_channel=RightsinRussia, accessed 9 June 2023.

3 ‘Rights in Russia Interview with Aleksandr Verkhovskiy, Director of the Sova Centre, based in Moscow’, YouTube, 11 April 2021, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x49LWJCj3dg&t=118s&ab_channel=RightsinRussia, accessed 9 June 2023.

4 Also, interview with Vladimir Basmanov, leader of the Movement of Nationalists (Dvizhenie natsionalistov) and the Forces of Good (Sily dobra), now living in an unknown place, July 2021.

5 Interview with Vladimir Basmanov, leader of Dvizhenie natsionalistov and Sily dobra, now living in an unknown place, July 2021.

6 Interview with Aleksandr Valov, former member of Sily dobra, now living in Ukraine, July 2021.

7 Post in RDK Telegram channel, 24 December 2022, available at: https://t.me/russvolcorps/320, accessed 18 August 2023.

8 ‘European Russians’ website, 2015, formerly available at: http://eurorussians.com/russian-rebel-army/, accessed 1 September 2020. The site is now defunct.

9 ‘Napavshii na FSB byl svyazan s natsionalisticheskoii gruppirovkoi “Stolz”’, RBK, 21 April 2017, available at: https://www.rbc.ru/society/21/04/2017/58fa16e99a7947cbb0c469e4, accessed 9 June 2023.

10 Interview I., former Russian volunteer in far-right Voluntary Ukrainian Corps—Right Sector (Dobrovolchyi ukraiinskyi korpus ‘Pravyi sektor’, DUK PS) founded by Ukrainian nationalist Dmytro Yarosh in 2014, Prague, February 2020.

11 ‘Natsionalist iz “Novoi sily” prosit ubezhishcha v Latvii’, Sova tsentr, 12 October 2015, available at: https://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2015/10/d32996/, accessed 9 June 2023.

12 ‘Natsionalist Vladimir Ratnikov bezhal iz-pod domashnego aresta’, Radio svoboda, 1 March 2021, available at: https://www.svoboda.org/a/31128241.html, accessed 9 June 2023.

13 See also, ‘Manifest Russkoi Povstancheskoi Armii’, Russkaya povstancheskaya armiya, 8 February 2016, available at: http://dobrovoletz.blogspot.com/2016/02/blog-post.html, accessed 8 August 2023.

14 Interview with Vladimir Ratnikov, former Chernyi blok leader and leading member of Dvizhenie natsionalistov, now living in Lithuania, May 2022.

15 ‘Sto let nashei katastrofe’, Russkii tsentr, undated, formerly available (site now defunct) at: http://russ.center/ru/sto-let-russkoy-katastrofe, accessed 5 May 2020.

16 Interview with Ivan Mikheev, former member of Russkii tsentr, now living in Ukraine, July 2021.

17 ‘O nashei simvolike i preemstvennosti’, Russkii dobrovolcheskii korpus, Telegram, 28 August 2022, available at: https://t.me/russvolcorps/108, accessed 8 August 2023.

18 ‘Petr Krasnov—Vzglyad iz budushchego’, Russkii tsentr, undated, formerly available (site now defunct) at: http://russ.center/ru/petr-krasnov-vzglyad-iz-buduschego, accessed 5 November 2020.

19 Russkii dobrovolets post, Vkontakte, 10 October 2017, available at: https://vk.com/rus_dobrovolec?w=wall-154341883_27, accessed 10 May 2020.

20 ‘Za Rossiyu protiv Stalina. Ivan Kononov’, RPA, 29 August 2015, available at: http://dobrovoletz.blogspot.com/2015/08/blog-post_35.html, accessed 9 June 2023.

21 Russkii tsentr, Telegram channel, 4 May 2019, available at: https://t.me/Russ_Center/720, accessed 18 August 2023.

22 Russkii dobrovolets post, 10 October 2017, available at: https://vk.com/rus_dobrovolec?w=wall-154341883_27, accessed 20 July 2020.

23 ‘O nashei simvolike i preemstvennosti’, Russkii dobrovolcheskii korpus, Telegram, 28 August 2022, available at: https://t.me/russvolcorps/108, accessed 8 August 2023.

24 ‘Bryanskii pokhod. Beseda s komandirom russkogo dobrovolcheskogo korpusa White Rex’, Feigin Live channel, YouTube, 4 March 2023, available at: https://www.youtube.com/live/ve0O1CM5yE0?feature=share, accessed 8 March 2023.

25 Russkii tsentr, Telegram channel, 4 May 2019, available at: https://t.me/Russ_Center/720, accessed 18 August 2023.

26 Interview with Andrey Kuznetsov, RPA leader, now living in Ukraine, July 2021.

27 Interview with Ivan Mikheev, former member of Russkii tsentr, now living in Ukraine, July 2021.

28 ‘Sto let nashei katastrofe’, Russkii tsentr, undated, formerly available (site now defunct) at: http://russ.center/ru/sto-let-russkoy-katastrofe, accessed 18 August 2023.

29 ‘Manifest Russkoi Povstancheskoi Armii’, Russkaya povstancheskaya armiya, 8 February 2016, available at: http://dobrovoletz.blogspot.com/2016/02/blog-post.html, accessed 8 August 2023.

30 Interview with Ivan Mikheev, former member of Russkii tsentr, now living in Ukraine, July 2021.

31 European Russians website, 2015, formerly available (site now defunct) at: http://eurorussians.com/russian-rebel-army/, accessed 13 November 2020.

32 ‘Wywiad z rosyjskim nacjonalistą, tradycjonalistą Alexeyem Levkinem—rozmawiał Witold Dobrowolski’, Szturm, 29 August 2016, available at: http://szturm.com.pl/index.php/miesiecznik/item/423-wywiad-z-rosyjskim-nacjonalista-tradycjonalista-alexeyem-levkinem-rozmawial-witold-dobrowolski, accessed 8 August 2023.

33 Interview with Andrey Kuznetsov, RPA leader, now living in Ukraine, July 2021.

34 ‘Ofitsial’noe zayavlenie’, Russkii dobrovolcheskii korpus, Telegram, 11 August 2022, available at: https://t.me/russvolcorps/70, accessed 8 August 2023.

35 Interview with Ivan Mikheev, former member of Russkii tsentr, now living in Ukraine, May 2022.

36 Interview with Vladimir Ratnikov, former Chernyi blok leader and leading member of Dvizhenie natsionalistov, now living in Lithuania, May 2022.

37 ‘Dvizhenie natsionalistov’, Telegram, 2022, available at: https://t.me/s/nationalism3000, accessed 10 May 2022.

38 Andrei Kuznetsov’s post on his Facebook account, 3 April 2022, available at: https://www.facebook.com/banhammer.ru, accessed 15 December 2022.

39 Interview with Aleksandr Valov, former member of Sily dobra, now living in Ukraine, July 2021.

40 Interview with Vladimir Basmanov, leader of Dvizhenie natsionalistov and Sily dobra, now living in an unknown place, July 2021.

41 ‘Rights in Russia Interview with Aleksandr Verkhovskiy, Director of the Sova Centre, Based in Moscow’, YouTube, 11 April 2021, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x49LWJCj3dg&t=118s&ab_channel=RightsinRussia, accessed 9 June 2023.

42 Interview with Vladimir Basmanov, leader of Dvizhenie natsionalistov and Sily dobra, now living in an unknown place, July 2021.

43 Interview with Ivan Mikheev, former member of Russkii tsentr, now living in Ukraine, July 2021.

44 Interview with Andrey Kuznetsov, RPA leader, now living in Ukraine, July 2021.

45 Ilya Lazarenko’s Facebook post, 2 March 2023, available at: https://www.facebook.com/lazarenko.elijah, accessed 18 April 2023. Lazarenko was a leading member of the relatively moderate ethnonationalist group, National Democratic Alliance, and now he lives in exile in Cyprus.

46 Interview with Vladimir Ratnikov, former Chernyi blok leader and leading member of Dvizhenie natsionalistov, now living in Lithuania, May 2022; interview with Ivan Mikheev, former member of Russkii tsentr, now living in Ukraine, May 2022.

47 Vladimir Ratnikov’s Facebook post, 19 May, available at: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005389428126, accessed 10 June 2023.

48 Legion ‘Svoboda Rossii’, Telegram, 22 September 2022, available at: https://t.me/legionoffreedom/474, accessed 18 August 2023.

49 ‘Russkii dobrovolcheskii korpus’, Telegram, 1 October 2022, available at: https://t.me/russvolcorps/194, accessed 18 August 2023.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Martin Laryš

Martin Laryš, Institute of International Relations, Nerudova 3, Prague 118 00, Czech Republic. Email: [email protected]