Radical nationalists: start of Medvedev’s presidency
3
Radical nationalists from the start of Medvedev’s
presidency to the war in Donbas: True till death?
Alexander Verkhovsky
This chapter examines the evolution of the radical wing in
Russian nationalism, from the early days of Dmitrii Medvedev’s
presidency in 2008 to the war in the Donbas region that started in
2014.^1 ‘Russian nationalism’ is an extremely broad concept (see
Laruelle 2009a); there is no such thing as one unified movement
of Russian nationalists. However, in the context of an authoritar-
ian regime and the general weakness of political movements, we
may note one important distinguishing criterion: relations with
the authorities. This enables us, for the purposes of discussion,
to separate those nationalists who oppose the authorities from
those who support them. This chapter deals only with the opposi-
tion sector, so organisations like Motherland (Rodina) and the
People’s Assembly (Narodnyi Sobor) are not examined here.^2
The opposition sector is also diverse. Here I will focus on
those groups and organisations that are characteristic of it,
which means excluding from the analysis those currents that,
while undoubtedly interesting, are not typical. First, I will not
be examining groups and organisations representing the ‘old
nationalism’ of the 1990s, because these groups are becom-
ing steadily less active and do not play any special role in the
movement as a whole.^3 Second, I will not be considering those
groups that are primarily Stalinist, and nationalist only as a
secondary consideration, like the followers of Colonel Vladimir
Kvachkov. Eduard Limonov’s followers also clearly keep them-
selves apart from the nationalist movement. Third, I exclude