Alexander Petrovich Barkashov (, sometimes transliterated as ''Aleksandr''; born 6 October 1953) is a Russian political leader and

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

who in 1990 founded

Russian National Unity Russian National Unity (RNU; transcribed Russkoe natsionalnoe edinstvo RNE) or All-Russian civic patriotic movement "Russian National Unity" () was an unregistered neo-Nazi, irredentist group based in Russia and formerly operating in states wit ...

, a

neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology which includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, ultraconservatism, racial supremacy, right-wing populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xe ...

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

organization.

Biography

On 16 October 1990, Barkashov and a few dozen followers gathered at his home on Moscow's Dubinin Street and founded "the National Unity for a Free Strong Just Russia" (soon shortened to "the

", and informally among the ''Barkashovtsy'' arkashovites "the Unity" 'Yedinstvo''. Historian Walter Laqueur writes that Barkashov stated in an interview that he is a Nazi. During the

Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 In September and October 1993, a constitutional crisis arose in the Russian Federation from a conflict between the then Russian president Boris Yeltsin and the country's parliament. Yeltsin performed a self-coup, dissolving parliament and ins ...

, Barkashov led RNU fighters in their defense of the Russian White House against

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

's forces. Escaping arrest by fleeing Moscow, Barkashov took refuge in a nearby

dacha A dacha (Belarusian, Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of former Soviet Union, post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ...

. Shot in the thigh during an evening stroll, Barkashov was brought to a hospital, where a nurse recognized him. Barkashov was imprisoned on charges of organizing and inciting mass disorder and illegally bearing arms. In early 1994, the newly elected

Duma A duma () is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were formed across Russia ...

granted

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

to Barkashov. In 1994, Barkashov published his book, ''Azbuka russkogo natsionalista'' (''ABC of a Russian Nationalist''), which became the primary source of the RNU's platform. At the end of February 1999, one opinion poll ranked Barkashov as one of Russia's 10 most recognizable politicians. On 2 December 2005 Barkashov together with three of his followers was detained and arrested for "attacking a police officer". According to the press-release of the RNU, On 6 November 2009 Barkashov formed the movement ″Union of the Defenders of Russia - October 1993″ together with

Vladislav Achalov Vladislav Alekseyevich Achalov (; 19 November 1945 – 23 June 2011) was a Soviet general, politician and public figure. Achalov served as the 12th commander of the Soviet Airborne Forces and the deputy minister of defence (1990–1991). Biogr ...

and Stanislav Terekhov, the leader of the Union of Officers. During the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

, Barkashov actively supports the Russian-backed separatists. In a leaked audio recording from spring 2014, Barkashov consulted Dmitri Boitsov, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Army. According to Barkahsov's words, his own son fought with a column of pro-Russian fighters against Ukraine.

References

General references

*'' Russian Fascism: Traditions, Tendencies, Movements'' by Stephen D. Shenfield ( M. E. Sharpe, 2001, and ). *'' The Beast Reawakens'' by Martin A. Lee (1997,

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries, it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emil ...

, ), chapter eight: "Shadow Over the East"

External links

Alexander Barkashov's web site (russian)Key leader profile: Aleksandr P. Barkashov
at the

MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base The MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base (TKB) was an online portal containing information on terrorist incidents, leaders, groups, and related court cases. It was active from September 2004 to March 2008 and is now defunct, but the group profiles that we ...

(includes three photos).
Aleksandr Petrovich Barkashov
at the NUPI Centre for Russian Studies' Database.
Russian Fascism and Russian Fascists
by Kirill Buketov. * by John B. Dunlop (clic
here
for

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

).
Antisemitism in Russia, 1995-97
by the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union.
What is Happening inside Russia?
by Dr. Tankred Golenpolsky, in '' The Jewish Magazine''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Barkashov, Alexander 1953 births Living people Christian fundamentalists Christian fascists Defenders of the White House (1993) Neo-Nazi politicians Orthodox fundamentalism Politicians from Moscow Russian conspiracy theorists Russian nationalists 20th-century Russian criminals Russian neo-Nazis Russian shooting survivors Soviet military personnel Prisoners and detainees of Russia Pro-Russian people of the war in Donbas