The split in the Russian nationalist movement caused by the war in Donbas sharply accelerated its already emergent crisis - the outflow of activists snowballed, and the scale and quality of political activity decreased rapidly. This process was exacerbated by intensified repressive crackdown, which, however, started to deescalate once its scope became overly disproportionate to its political goals. Today we do not notice significant independent initiatives, either pro- or anti-Putin, on the ruins of what once was the most active segment of the opposition. Many far-right activists have left the country. The remaining ones increasingly tend to act in the shadow of more tenacious opposition movements.
Alexander Verkhovsky
is founder and Director of SOVA Center for Information and Analysis . SOVA Center carries out research on ultra-nationalism, hate crimes, legal counteraction to extremism, etc, since 2002. His areas of research include political extremism, nationalism and xenophobia, religion and politics, as well as the misuse of anti-extremism policies in contemporary Russia. He has authored several books on these topics since the mid 90’s. He graduated from Moscow Oil and Gas Institute with a degree in applied mathematics in 1984. From 1989-1992 he was the Editor-in-Chief of S
amizdat
independent newspaper and
Panorama
in Moscow. From 1991-2002 he was Vice President of
Panorama
Information and Research Center.
Natalia Yudina
Natalia Yudina is head of the Russian Nationalism and Xenophobia department at the SOVA Center for Information and Analysis. Her areas of research include nationalism, racism, hate crimes and counteraction to racism in Russia, as well as the protection of civil liberties from misuse of anti-extremism policies. She is the author and co-author of the SOVA Center’s reports, including those on far-right groups’ activity in Ukraine’s Donbass area, anti-extremist measures on the Internet, and racism in football. She graduated from Russian State University for the Humanities in 1996.
Thursday, November 21, 2019
4:00 - 5:30 pm
Voesar Conference Room, Suite 412
Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E St NW
