Extremism in Russia

Crime in Russia

Main article: Crime in Russia

2024: Extremist crime rose 28.3% to 1,719 in a year

In 2024, 1,719 extremist crimes were registered in Russia. This is a 28.3% increase from the previous year, when the figure was about 1,340 incidents. Such data are contained in the report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, which TAdviser got acquainted with in early March 2025.

In accordance with note 2 of part 3 of Art. 282.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, extremist crimes mean acts committed on the basis of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity or on the basis of hatred or enmity against any social group. Article 280 (public calls for extremist activities) and article 282.1 (organization of an extremist community) are considered "extremist" articles of the criminal code.

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Фото: Freepik

The material of the Ministry of Internal Affairs says that of the crimes of extremist orientation, cases and materials about which were in production in 2024, 1497 acts were disclosed. This is 17.5% more than the previous year.

Employees of the investigative bodies of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in 2024 identified 88 extremist crimes, which corresponds to an increase of 183.9% compared to 2023. Another 876 such acts were identified by employees of the internal affairs bodies - plus 24.8% on an annualized basis.

In 2024, 447 extremist crimes were recorded, committed using information and telecommunication technologies or in the field of computer information: we are talking about public calls for extremist activities (Article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This is 21.8% more than in 2023. In the total volume of such acts, 306 were identified by officers of the FSB bodies, another 134 - by officers of the internal affairs bodies.^[1]

2023: Russia's extremism cases rise 62% to 430

The Investigative Committee of Russia sent 430 criminal cases of extremism to the court in 2023, which is 62% more than a year earlier. The chairman of the UK, Alexander Bastrykin, announced this in mid-January 2024.

Political analyst Alexei Yaroshenko, commenting on these figures, noted that the increase in the number of criminal cases of extremism in the Russian Federation is associated with an increase in the activity of recruiters.

Head of the TFR Alexander Bastrykin

In Russia, some terrorist work is currently underway. Extremists who set fire to military registration and enlistment offices are trying to blow up railway crossings and other important infrastructure facilities, they are recruited by the West. Therefore, in part, this terrorist work against Russia can be explained by the increase in the number of cases of extremism. And the second is that not only Russians, but also representatives of small peoples and visitors began to be involved in extremism. Previously, migrants and representatives of other nationalities received much less punishment for similar or more serious crimes in this direction than representatives of our state-forming people, he said on the air of the Moscow speaking radio station.

Article 280 (public calls for extremist activities) and article 282.1 (organization of an extremist community) are considered "extremist" articles of the criminal code. In 2018, Article 282 was partially decriminalized as overly repressive. It regularly becomes the object of criticism of human rights defenders and opposition politicians who consider this article of the Criminal Code as a tool to limit the activities of opposition political organizations and their supporters. The materials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs specify that most of the crimes of this kind are committed on the Internet.^[2]

2022: More than 1,500 convicted for terrorism and extremism

In 2022, 875 people were convicted of terrorist crimes and 693 were convicted of extremist crimes. This was announced in mid-February 2023 by Chairman Supreme Court of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Lebedev at a meeting of chairmen of republican, regional, regional, arbitration and military courts following the work of the judicial system Russia in 2022 with the participation of the President of Russia. More here.

2021: In Russia, the number of convicted extremism increased to 606 people

In 2021, 682 people were convicted of terrorism in Russia against 575 a year earlier. For extremist crimes, the number of convicts during this time increased from 325 to 606 people. This was announced on February 9, 2022 by the Chairman of the Supreme Court of Russia Vyacheslav Lebedev, speaking at a meeting of judges of courts of general jurisdiction and arbitration courts.

Thus, according to him, in 2021 in the Russian Federation more than 1.2 thousand people were convicted of terrorism and extremism. Lebedev noted that religious rites and ceremonies cannot be considered extremist crimes.

In Russia, the number of convicts for extremism increased in 2021 to 606 people

According to the law "On Countering Extremist Activities," the Bible, the Koran, Tanakh and Ganjur, their content and quotes from them cannot be recognized as extremist materials.

According to the report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in total in 2021, 1,057 extremist crimes were registered, which is 27% more than a year earlier. They were mostly solved by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (567 crimes, an increase of 13%). Almost a double increase in detected crimes occurred thanks to FSB officers (437 crimes, an increase of 48.6%).

Most of the extremists were in Moscow - 59 crimes. In second place is Dagestan (58 crimes under an extremist article), in third place is the Kemerovo region (54 cases).

The chairman Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin called for more Internet monitoring in the field of detecting extremism. It is noted that measures should include the identification on the Internet of materials for recruiting people for illegal actions, including those promoting terrorism and extremism.

Earlier, the plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation explained that a person who was part of an extremist community and voluntarily left him could be exempted from criminal liability.^[3]

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