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Angry patriots, also known as the war party, Z-patriots, turbopatriots, ultrapatriots, and megavatniks, are a loose group of Russian ultranationalist political commentators and milbloggers in support of the
During the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the group has gained increased prominence and power. In mid-2022, after the collapse of the Russian frontline in the northeast due to the Ukrainian
Angry patriots, also known as the war party, Z-patriots, turbopatriots, ultrapatriots, and megavatniks, are a loose group of Russian ultranationalist political commentators and milbloggers in support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, but critical of what they see as ineffective or incompetent prosecution of the war by the Russian government.
Political experts in Russia and in the United States have described the far-right ultranationalist opposition to Putin as possibly "the most serious challenge" to the Russian regime.
Notable members and organizations
A notable organization in the movement is the Club of Angry Patriots, founded in April 2023 by former RussianFederal Security Service
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation СБ, ФСБ России (FSB) is the principal security agency of Russia and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB; its immediate predecessor was the Federal Counterin ...
(FSB) agent and militant leader Igor Girkin
Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin ( rus, И́горь Все́володович Ги́ркин, p=ˈiɡərʲ ˈfsʲevələdəvʲɪdʑ ˈɡʲirkʲɪn; born 17 December 1970), also known by the alias Igor Ivanovich Strelkov ( rus, И́горь Ива́ ...
, who is also known as Igor Strelkov. Girkin himself has been described as the "most prominent voice" within the Z-patriot sphere. The "club" also prominently includes Girkin's fellow Donetsk People's Republic
The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR; , ) is Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied territory in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex and declared as a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia, comprising parts o ...
leader Pavel Gubarev
Pavel Yuryevich Gubarev (, ; born 10 February 1983) is a pro-Russian public figure, primarily known for his pro-Russian activities in Donbas in 2014. He is married to Ekaterina Gubareva.
Early life
Gubarev gained a degree in history from Don ...
and Russian nationalist writer Maxim Kalashnikov
Vladimir Alexandrovich Kucherenko (; born December 21, 1966), better known by the pen name Maxim Kalashnikov (Максим Калашников), is a Russian writer, publicist, and political activist.
His writings focus on praising the Soviet U ...
.
History
Before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine
Before Russia's2014 annexation of Crimea
In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russ ...
, ultranationalists were largely on the fringes of Russian politics. The annexation brought these groups into "the Kremlin's ideological big tent".
Prominent Russian liberal opposition figure Alexei Navalny
Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny (, ; 4 June 197616 February 2024) was a Russian Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, opposition leader, anti-corruption in Russia, corruption activist and political prisoner. He founded the Anti-Corruption Found ...
said before his 2020 poisoning that the Kremlin was "far more afraid of ultra-nationalists than they were of him", noting that "he ultranationalists
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads
* He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English
* He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana)
* Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter call ...
use the same imperial rhetoric as Putin does, but they can do it much better than him".
Rise to prominence
During the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the group has gained increased prominence and power. In mid-2022, after the collapse of the Russian frontline in the northeast due to the Ukrainian 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive
On September 6, 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a major counteroffensive against the Russian military during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As Ukraine announced the start of the 2022 Kherson counteroffensive, Kherson counteroffensi ...
, the ultranationalist faction reacted with rage and frustration. Several ultranationalists, including Girkin, called for nuclear strikes against Ukraine and other forms of escalation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (, ; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat serving as the Kremlin Press Secretary, spokesman for President of Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin since 2012.
In December 2022, during the bloody
battle of Bakhmut
The battle of Bakhmut was a major battle between the Russian Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrainian Armed Forces for control of the city of Bakhmut, during the eastern Ukraine campaign, a theatre of the Russian invasion of Uk ...
, Yevgeny Prigozhin
Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin (1 June 1961 – 23 August 2023) was a Russian mercenary leader and oligarch. He led the Wagner Group, a private military company, and was a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin until launching a ...
, leader of the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group
The Wagner Group (), officially known as PMC Wagner (, ), is a Russian state-funded private military company (PMC) controlled 2023 Wagner Group plane crash, until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir Pu ...
that was doing much of the fighting in the city, began to harshly criticize the Russian Ministry of Defense for what he saw as incompetence and corruption in the leadership. A Wagner Group-Ministry of Defense conflict continued for the following months.
On 1 April 2023, a group of Russian ultranationalists led by Igor Girkin announced the formation of the Club of Angry Patriots. Speaking to reporters, Girkin said that a struggle was beginning within the Russian elite for a "post-Putin" era. On 2 April, Vladlen Tatarsky
Maxim Yuryevich Fomin (25 April 1982 – 2 April 2023), better known as Vladlen Tatarsky, was a Ukrainian-born Russian military blogger, propagandist, convicted bank robber, and participant in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Tatarsky was active as a ...
, a former militant who fought in the war in Donbas
The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...
and later became a pro-Russia milblogger
A milblog or warblog is a blog devoted mostly or wholly to covering news events concerning an ongoing war. Sometimes the use of the term "warblog" implies that the blog concerned has a pro-war slant. The term "milblog" implies that the author ...
in the "angry patriot" sphere, was assassinated in the 2023 Saint Petersburg bombing. Tatarsky - real name Maxim Fomin - was one of the more prominent milbloggers in Russia, and had been repeatedly critical of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Russian political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya said that whether the assassination had been performed by Ukrainian or Russian government agents, the assassination would leave Russia's "patriotic camp ..feeling exposed and potentially at risk".
In June 2023, the Wagner-Ministry of Defense conflict culminated in Prigozhin launching a brief armed rebellion against the Ministry of Defense. which ended in a peaceful settlement.
Crackdown on far-right criticism
In the wake of the failed rebellion, Prigozhin "sharply curtailed" his verbal attacks against authorities. In July 2023, Igor Girkin was arrested and charged with "inciting extremism" by Russian authorities, ending a long period over which he was considered "untouchable" due to his history and government connections. Some Western commentators analyzed the events as signalling a larger trend of cracking down on far-right criticism. On 23 August 2023, exactly two months after the rebellion, Prigozhin was killed along with nine other people when a business jet crashed inTver Oblast
Tver Oblast (, ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Tver. From 1935 to 1990, it was known as Kalinin Oblast (). Population:
Tver Oblast is a region of lakes, such as Seliger and Brosno. Much o ...
, north of Moscow. ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' cited sources within the US government as saying that the crash was likely caused by a bomb on board or "some other form of sabotage". International relations expert Sam Ramani said that "in the short term, he death of the Wagner Group leadershipclamps down on any kind of ultranationalist unrest", but predicted that ultranationalist opposition may consolidate again in the future, particularly at the time of the 2024 Russian presidential election
Russian presidential elections, Presidential elections were held in Russia from 15 to 17 March 2024. It was the eighth presidential election in the country. The incumbent president Vladimir Putin won with 88% of the vote, the highest percentage ...
.
In November 2023, Igor Girkin announced his intention to run as a candidate in the 2024 elections, describing elections in Russia as a "sham" in which "the only winner eferring to Putinis known in advance". On 24 December 2023, hundreds of people gathered for a demonstration in Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
in which they expressed their support for Girkin's candidacy.
Girkin appeared in court in Moscow in 2024 on charges of inciting extremism. He was convicted of the charges on January 25. When the verdict was read out, Girkin reportedly shouted "I serve the Fatherland!". He was sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony for four years. Girkin's lawyer said the verdict was "an ugly judicial act" and would be appealed "immediately".
Notes
See also
*Russian nationalism
Russian nationalism () is a form of nationalism that promotes Russian cultural identity and unity. Russian nationalism first rose to prominence as a Pan-Slavism, Pan-Slavic enterprise during the 19th century Russian Empire, and was repressed duri ...
*Far-right politics in Russia
In contemporary Russia, the far-right scene spans a wide spectrum of political groups, authors, activists, political movements and intellectual circles. The mainstream radical right that is allowed or supported by the government to participate i ...
References
{{Russian nationalism Russian nationalism Russian responses to the Russian invasion of Ukraine Opposition to Vladimir Putin Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia Far-right politics in Russia