![\"Novosibirsk\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/shutterstock_2022189386-1753521317.jpg\")
An aerial view of Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia with the Church of the Archangel Michael [Shutterstock]\nFolk singing and a stream of anti-immigrant messages<\/p>\n
A group of uniformed men, at least one of them masked, walk up to a pair of watermelon sellers in a street on the outskirts of the Siberian city of Novosibirsk. The men are dressed in black, wearing tactical vests with patches bearing the emblem of a bogatyr \u2013 a mythic warrior of Slavic folklore \u2013 riding on horseback.<\/p>\n
They inform the traders, who they believe to be foreigners, that they are trading without a permit, and the black-clad men help load their goods into a van to be confiscated by the authorities.<\/p>\n
But these men-in-black have no official position in law enforcement.<\/p>\n
A video of this operation was uploaded online on Monday morning by the Russian Community, or Russkaya Obshchina (RO), who boasted of shutting down an \u201coriental bazaar\u201d.<\/p>\n
Since the invasion of Ukraine, the RO has become the largest and most influential ultranationalist organisation in Russia, with 1.2 million subscribers to its official YouTube page and more than 660,000 readers on its main Telegram channel, as well as its own app, and enjoys support from powerful allies within the clergy and security services.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a classic movement of Russian ethnic nationalists,\u201d says Alexander Verkhovsky, director of the SOVA Centre, which monitors hate movements in Russia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere used to be [the slogan] \u2018Russia for Russians\u2019, but now that is considered too radical. But in essence, this is what it is about,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
RO also claims to stand for conservative moral and religious values, and steadfastly supports the Kremlin, including in its invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese points define their entire ideology\u2026 There have always been nationalists, but the fact that the largest and most prominent Russian nationalist organisation is fully loyal to the government \u2013 this is an unusual situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
An aerial view of Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia with the Church of the Archangel Michael [Shutterstock]
\nFolk singing and a stream of anti-immigrant messages<\/p>\n
RO was founded five years ago by Omsk politician Andrey Tkachuk, anti-abortion rights activist Yevgeny Chesnokov and Andrey Afanasyev, a host on the TV channel Spas, which is owned by the Russian Orthodox Church.<\/p>\n
One member told the BBC last year that the idea was to create solidarity among Russians themselves, as other, tightly-knit ethnic communities in Russia already look out for each other, for example, Chechens or Armenians.<\/p>\n
As such, many of the Community\u2019s activities are benign: Helping each other out with flat tyres, or organising festivities on Orthodox holidays such as Maslenitsa (Butter Week), with folk singing and dance performances in the run-up to Easter.<\/p>\n
But an examination of RO\u2019s various Telegram groups reveals a narrow focus on ethnic Russian interests, to the exclusion of Russia\u2019s other non-Slavic groups \u2013 although there are a handful of minority members \u2013 and a stream of anti-immigrant content.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe blacks will devour everything in their path if the Slavs do not unite to somehow defend their borders and values,\u201d a young female follower of the Community\u2019s Saratov branch, who can\u2019t be named for fear of repercussions, told Al Jazeera, using a derogatory slur.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s other activities include vigilantism, often with the open or tacit support of the authorities, observers say.<\/p>\n
According to Verkhovsky, there are a number of tactics to target immigrants and other minorities. One is filing official complaints and making denunciations to authorities against what it deems immoral, such as homosexuality or abortion or \u201cRussophobic behaviour\u201d. Neither of the former are technically illegal in Russia, but there are laws against \u201cpropaganda\u201d related to LGBTQ and \u201cchildfree\u201d themes.<\/p>\n
Another tactic is raids, such as the one on watermelon sellers in Novosibirsk. \u201cIn the case of migrants, these are places where migrants live or work,\u201d Verkhovsky explains.<\/p>\n
Members of the Russian Community or similar vigilante groups, for example, the smaller group Northern Man, typically appear where immigrants are working and find some sort of \u201cviolation\u201d \u2013 in the case of the Novosibirsk watermelon stall, unlicensed trading. They then detain the alleged violators and hand them over to the police.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn principle, more or less any citizen can complain to the Russian Community and say he\u2019s been offended by some \u2018bad\u2019 people,\u201d says Verkhovsky.<\/p>\n
\u201cIdeally, these \u2018bad\u2019 people are not Russian, and the person complaining is Russian. And then the Russian Community will go to protect him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sometimes, the group accompanies police on joint operations as \u201cvolunteers\u201d, though this is rarer. Verkhovsky noted that attitudes towards RO by different police departments vary, and, while some seem to welcome the group, in other cases, officers have brought charges against Community members \u2013 only for prosecutors to drop them.<\/p>\n
![\"Russian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/shutterstock_2594443521-1753522191.jpg\")
The flag of the Russian Community (RO) features at a street festival in the city of Borovsk, Russia, on August 24, 2024 [Shutterstock]
\nStanding up to a \u2018crime wave\u2019?<\/p>\n
The vigilantes claim they are standing up to an \u201cimmigrant crime wave\u201d.<\/p>\n
There is crime among foreigners in Russia: For instance, Georgians make up more than half of the \u201cthieves-in-law\u201d, an elite fraternity in the criminal underworld. Brawls and beatings involving gangs of young immigrant men often make headlines.<\/p>\n
However, these well-publicised incidents and individuals contribute only a small part of the overall crime statistics in Russia. According to Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia\u2019s Security Council, foreigners committed just 2 percent of all reported crime nationwide last year, while comprising roughly 4 percent of the population.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Valentina Chupik, a lawyer who offers free legal help to migrants, told Al Jazeera that a substantial portion of these offences are related to improper paperwork, rather than victimising Russians.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese crimes [missing paperwork] are the inevitable consequence of the organisation of illegal migration, which are committed by homeowners who rent apartments to migrants, but do not fulfil the obligation established by law to register them there,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
As well as immigrants, RO campaigns against alleged immorality and \u201cfifth-columnists\u201d in Russian society. As a human rights advocate, Chupik is considered to be one of these fifth-columnists and has become used to receiving threats and obscenities, including from RO supporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey threaten me regularly,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy employees are also threatened, as well as volunteers. They sometimes have posts in their Telegram groups mentioning me. After that, they write to me and call me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Messages seen by Al Jazeera tell Chupik, \u201cthere\u2019s a special spot for you in hell\u201d and to \u201cwait for the bottle\u201d, alluding to sexual assault.<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera contacted multiple representatives of RO for comment, but did not receive any response.<\/p>\n
Since a deadly attack<\/a> on a Moscow music venue last year by ISIS-affiliated gunmen, there has been an upswing<\/a> in xenophobia. The police have ramped up arrests and other restrictions on immigrants, especially those from Central Asia. Verkhovsky says it is hard to tell to what extent the public is actively hostile towards immigrants, but polling indicates concerns about immigration have sharply escalated.<\/p>\n Support the war; gain acceptance<\/p>\n