The Russian Action Committee (RAC; , RKD) is a coalition movement of the

Russian opposition Opposition to the government of President Vladimir Putin in Russia, commonly referred to as the Russian opposition, can be divided between the parliamentary opposition parties in the State Duma and the various Non-system opposition, non-systemi ...

in exile, formed on May 20, 2022 at the II Anti-War Conference of the

Free Russia Forum The Free Russia Forum (FRF; , FSR) is a conference of the Russian opposition, held twice a year in Vilnius (Lithuania). The forum was founded in March 2016 by Garry Kasparov and , the former executive director of the Russian democratic movement ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. The movement was co-founded by

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...

, and

Mikhail Khodorkovsky Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky (, ; born 26 June 1963), sometimes known by his initials MBK, is an exiled Russian businessman, Russian oligarchs, oligarch, and Russian opposition, opposition activist, now residing in London. In 2003, Khodork ...

. Garry Kasparov listed three main postulates of the RKD program document: recognition that the attack on Ukraine is a criminal war; that it was unleashed by the illegitimate regime of

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

; and recognition of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, including

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

and

Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

. Representatives of the RKD advocate for the creation of the so-called "good Russian" passport for those who oppose the war with Ukraine. In August 2022, the Committee stated that it was organizing a meeting titled "Congress of Free Russia" with the participation of Western politicians. The organizers of the event say "the task of the Congress is to unite the efforts of the most active anti-war part of Russian society and the free Western world in support of Ukraine and opposition to the regime of Vladimir Putin." The Congress was held from 31 August to 2 September under the slogan "Be brave like Ukraine". The congress was attended by

Viktor Shenderovich Viktor Anatolyevich Shenderovich (; born August 15, 1958) is a Russian satirist, writer, scriptwriter and radio host. Biography Shenderovich, born in Moscow into a family of Belarusian Jewish origin, graduated in 1980 from the Moscow State Art ...

Dmitry Bykov Dmitry Lvovich Bykov ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Львович Быков, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ˈlʲvovʲɪdʑ ˈbɨkəf, a=Dmitriy L'vovich Bykov.ru.vorb.oga; born 20 December 1967) is a Russian writer, poet, literary critic and journalist. ...

Gennady Gudkov Gennady Vladimirovich Gudkov (; born 15 August 1956) is a Russian politician and businessman. ''The Moscow Times'' described him in 2012 as "one of parliament's most vocal and charismatic critics" of President Vladimir Putin. Background Gudkov ...

Vladislav Inozemtsev Vladislav Leonidovich Inozemtsev (; born 10 October 1968) is a Russian academician who is the director of the Moscow-based Centre for Research on Post-industrial society, Post-Industrial Societies, a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit think tank. ...

Yevgeny Kiselyov Yevgeny Alexeyevich Kiselyov (, ; born 15 June 1956) is a Russian television journalist. As the host of the NTV (Russia), NTV weekly news show ''Itogi'' in the 1990s, he became one of the nation's best known television journalists, criticizing ...

, as well as the Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Seimas of Lithuania

Žygimantas Pavilionis Žygimantas Pavilionis (born 22 July 1971 in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian politician, Member of the Seimas, former Lithuanian diplomat. From August 2010 to July 2015, he served as the Lithuania's Ambassador to United States and Mexico (2011). Earl ...

and ex-

Prime Minister of Georgia The prime minister of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პრემიერ-მინისტრი, tr) is the head of government and chief executive of Georgia (country), Georgia. In Georgia, the President of Georgia, presi ...

Vano Merabishvili Ivane "Vano" Merabishvili ( ka, ივანე "ვანო" მერაბიშვილი; born 15 April 1968) is a Georgian politician and 9th Prime Minister of Georgia from 4 July to 25 October 2012. A former NGO activist, he became dir ...

. The Congress concluded with the words "We will continue to invite and offer asylum to all who fight for freedom and help Ukraine win." In late 2023, the Russian Action Committee was designated as " undesirable" in Russia.

Blacklisting of Ponomarev

On 21 August 2022, exiled former parliamentarian

Ilya Ponomarev Ilya Vladimirovich Ponomarev (, ; born 6 August 1975) is a Russian people, Russian-Ukrainian people, Ukrainian politician who was a member of the Russian State Duma from 2007 to 2016. He was the only member of the State Duma not to vote in fa ...

read aloud a manifesto of the

National Republican Army The National Republican Army (; abbreviated ENR), colloquially known as the Army of the North ( Italian: ''Esercito del Nord'') was the army of the Italian Social Republic (, or RSI) from 1943 to 1945, fighting on the side of Nazi Germany durin ...

(NRA) calling for armed action against the regime. The manifesto was released following the

killing of Darya Dugina Darya Aleksandrovna Dugina (; 15 December 1992 – 20 August 2022), also known under the pen name Daria Platonova (), was a Russian journalist, political scientist, and activist. She was the daughter of Aleksandr Dugin, a far-right politic ...

, for which the NRA also issued a claim of responsibility. Ponomarev endorsed both the assassination and the manifesto. The following day, the Russian Action Committee

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

Ponomarev from attending the Free Russia Congress on grounds that he had "called for terrorist attacks on Russian territory". The Committee's statement also implied that Dugina was a "civilian" who do not take part in the armed confrontation, and condemned denunciations of Alexandr Dugin following the attack as "a demonstrative rejection of normal human empathy for the families of the victims".

References

{{Russian invasion of Ukraine 2022 establishments in Russia Opposition to Vladimir Putin Organizations listed in Russia as undesirable Organizations of the Russo-Ukrainian War Political opposition alliances Political parties established in 2022 Protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine Russian opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Blacklisting of Ponomarev

See also

References