Putin signed the decree ‘On Approval of the Strategy for Countering Extremism in the Russian Federation for 2025’ on 24 December 2024.
The document, predictably, mentions Ukraine as a source of major and global extremist threats.
For example, the list of ‘the most serious extremist threats’ includes ‘the widespread dissemination of neo-Nazi ideas’ and ‘the strengthening of radical nationalist armed groups (including in Ukraine)’. In addition, it is emphasised that ‘the risks associated with extremism in Ukraine extend to neighbouring countries and regions’.
The war of aggression unleashed by Russia in Ukraine is called ‘the Ukrainian crisis, which is used by unfriendly states to unleash hybrid wars against Russia and incite aggressive Russophobic sentiments in the world’.
One of the key objectives of countering extremism in the document is ‘to eliminate the source of extremist threats originating from the territory of Ukraine and to prevent the penetration of foreign and international extremist and neo-Nazi communities into Russian territory’.
Iryna Sedova, a researcher at the Crimean Human Rights Group, considers this document dangerous for all Ukrainians.
‘Some parts of this document can be regarded as hate speech against Ukrainians on a national basis. These points contain direct threats to Ukrainians, as the implementation of this strategy will be supported by budgetary resources at all levels. Therefore, in 2025, the fight against Ukrainians will officially become a strategic goal of the Russian Federation by law,’ the human rights activist believes.
It is worth noting that the strategy contains a definition of ‘Russophobia’ that is worded in such a way that any resident of the occupied territories who disagrees with the Russian Federation’s policy can be labelled a Russophobe.
In addition, in the General Provisions section, the concepts of ‘manifestations of extremism’ and ‘radicalism’ contain a clarification that the actions listed in these formulations are extremism and radicalism only when they are directed against the Russian Federation.
The document also names the ‘falsification of world history’, ‘falsification of the USSR’s role in World War II’, ‘reduction of the USSR’s contribution to the victory over Nazi Germany and Japan’, and ‘glorification of the Nazis and their accomplices’ as extremist threats.
According to Iryna Sedova, in this case, all children and adults who are in the occupied territories and continue to study online in Ukrainian schools can be called extremists. In occupied Crimea, facts of persecution and imprisonment of people for publishing Ukrainian symbols have already been recorded.
Books about the Holodomor are already considered extremist literature in the Russian Federation. If the new concepts from this document are further incorporated into Russian anti-extremist legislation, textbooks on the history of Ukraine, which are fundamentally different from those of the Russian Federation, may be regarded by Russian law enforcement agencies as extremist literature.
The text of the Strategy contains a number of definitions that make it possible to use these definitions in the future to prosecute all those who disagree with Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territories.
Yana Salakhova, an independent expert on hate crimes, believes that Russia’s new strategy expands the possibilities for persecuting Ukrainians under occupation:
‘In fact, people who claim that Ukraine is an independent state, will be accused of distorting history, manifestations of radical nationalism. The document equates Ukrainian nationalism in certain provisions of the Strategy with extremism and neo-Nazism. Any uncoordinated public events (protests) will be severely prosecuted.
The text specifically mentions the ‘new constituent entities of the Russian Federation’ and the need for ‘socio-cultural integration’ of the population of the so-called ‘DPR’, ‘LPR’ and Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Special attention will be paid to ‘migrants’ from Ukraine.
Under the guise of protecting against extremism, the Russian Federation is actually taking full control of such areas as youth policy and education, sports and religious spheres, active involvement and funding of organisations that will work with young people and other segments of the population, and even temporary involvement in the SMO is envisaged,’ the human rights activist summarises.
The text of the strategy calls ‘discrediting the Russian armed forces’ one of the methods of manipulating public opinion, which is used to ‘destabilise the general political and socio-economic situation in the Russian Federation’ and to strengthen ‘radical and extremist sentiments in Russian society’. This creates additional grounds to justify the persecution of Ukrainians who disagree with the occupation. It should be reminded that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, at least 993 people have been brought to administrative responsibility for the so-called ‘discrediting the Russian Armed Forces’ in Crimea alone.
Another serious threat is ‘the spread of extremist ideology among persons serving sentences in the penal system of the Russian Federation’. This wording creates opportunities for additional pressure on Ukrainian political prisoners held in Russian colonies and detention centres.
It is worth reminding that activists, journalists, ATO veterans and representatives of religious communities abducted in the newly occupied territories are often convicted on ‘extremism’ and/or terrorism charges. They are currently held in Russian detention centres and colonies, and may also become a ‘strategic target’ for additional fight against what the strategy calls ‘extremism’.
The head of the Crimean Human Rights Group, Olga Skrypnyk, believes that this ‘strategy’ is a step towards formalising the persecution of Ukrainians in the territories occupied by Russia. ‘I see this document as a clear updated instruction for the Russian special agencies on how to persecute Ukrainian citizens, suppress resistance in the occupied territories and destroy any manifestations of Ukrainian identity, which fully meets the goals of Russia’s genocidal war against Ukraine,’ the human rights activist summed up.
