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I'm Maxim Polyakov, a correspondent for the online magazine '7x7'.

Two years ago, police in the Siberian city of Tyumen detained several anti-fascists who were allegedly planning to blow up a thermal power plant as members of The People’s Will Vanguard, an organization that Russia designated as a terrorist group in 2024. However, the suspects and their relatives insist that no such organization exists: it was fabricated by security forces, and prosecutors accepted it as real. The motivation is straightforward—law enforcement officers receive promotions and bonuses for uncovering “terrorist” networks.

The story of the fabricated People’s Will Vanguard is not the first of its kind in Russia. In this newsletter, I’ll explore other instances where alleged terrorist and extremist organizations have emerged during legal proceedings and explain why many Russians remain skeptical about their existence or any genuine threat.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

“The Network”

In February 2020, a military court found several antifascists from Penza guilty of organizing and participating in the activities of the terrorist movement “The Network.” They were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 6 to 18 years. The Federal Security Service (FSB) initiated the case in autumn 2017, but the Moscow District Military Court only designated the previously nonexistent organization “The Network” as a terrorist group in 2019.

According to case materials, investigators gained access to the antifascists’ laptops and discovered a Word document they identified as a terrorist group manifesto. Ilya Shakursky, one of the defendants, argued that the document had been altered in 2018, by which time he could no longer use his laptop.

The court, however, ruled that the evidence was more than sufficient.

The investigation’s conclusions were met with public skepticism, as elements of the case did not add up. Scientists and journalists published an open letter online, declaring the case fabricated and the evidence insufficient to prove the defendants’ guilt. The letter was signed by over 400 people.

“The New Greatness”

The "New Greatness" case began in 2018, when law enforcement detained ten members of a small opposition movement in Moscow. By this time, security services had been informally observing the group for several months. According to investigators, the members gathered in various locations, such as McDonald's and short-term rental spaces, to discuss political issues. Occasionally, they went to the countryside to practice shooting and making Molotov cocktails.

The case involved ten individuals, who received sentences ranging from suspended to actual prison terms. In August 2018, Novaya Gazeta launched a petition that garnered over 160,000 signatures. That same year, a "Mothers’ March" took place, with participants calling for the defendants' release.

Human rights activists and the defendants’ relatives claimed the case was fabricated, highlighting that the charges were based on the testimony of an instigator. A man known by the alias Ruslan D. played a key role in the case; he was allegedly an undercover agent who actively encouraged the group’s members to engage in extremist activities. According to media reports, the real instigator’s name may have been Rodion Zelinsky, although this was never confirmed. He was the one to suggest the group's name and to draft its charter. Despite protests and claims of provocation, the court found the defendants guilty.

MKU and “Columbine”

Since February 2021, the FSB has reported the arrests of individuals associated with the so-called MKU group. There are multiple interpretations of the abbreviation’s meaning: Maniaki. Kult Ubiystv (“Maniacs. Cult of Murder”), Maniaki. Kult Ubiyts (“Maniacs. Cult of Killers”), or Molodezh, Kotoraya Ulybayetsa (“Youth That Smiles”). Authorities described MKU as a Ukrainian nationalist movement that pursues ideals of “racial purity.” In practice, however, MKU’s “activity” was largely limited to sporadic online postings of fight videos, composed of disjointed fragments with no single distribution channel. The group largely resembled AUE, which also was an internet phenomenon rather than a structured movement with headquarters and cells. In 2023, a Russian court declared MKU a terrorist organization.

MKU appeared out of nowhere, with no prior public awareness of its existence until the initial arrests. At that time, Russian media reported that the group had allegedly been operating in Ukraine since 2017.

Typically, underage individuals detained for involvement with MKU were also charged with association in another loosely organized movement, “Columbine,” named after the Columbine High School massacre in the United States in April 1999, which resulted in 13 deaths and 25 injuries before the two teenage perpetrators took their own lives.

This high-profile school shooting impacted not only the American public, prompting calls to restrict citizens’ gun ownership, but also resonated in Russia, where the issue of access to weapons is less prominent. Prosecutions were driven by the existence of multiple social media groups that allegedly “romanticized” the Columbine tragedy. Those detained were accused of plotting terrorist attacks in educational institutions and of sharing the movement’s ideals. Alexander Verkhovsky, a member of the Human Rights Council, voiced doubts about “Columbine,” calling the situation “peculiar” since no such organization exists; there is no publicly available information on its structure or leadership.

Nonetheless, in February 2022, the Supreme Court of Russia designated “Columbine” as a terrorist movement.

Hizb ut-Tahrir

After 2014, multiple Crimean activists were prosecuted in Russia for their involvement with Hizb ut-Tahrir, which had been designated a terrorist organization back in 2003. The movement is indirectly associated with radical Islamism, though its “cells” have never been cited in crime reports. Most of those charged with affiliation to Hizb ut-Tahrir were activists focused on Crimean Tatar affairs, despite a lack of documented evidence of their participation in the organization’s activities. Furthermore, Crimea is home to other groups that advocate for the rights of the peninsula’s indigenous people.

Following the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russian authorities required religious and civil institutions to renew their legal status by re-registering under Russian jurisdiction. The dissolution of the Mejlis—the executive body of the Crimean Tatar Qurultay (national congress)—became one of the most prominent outcomes of this mandate. Unable to complete re-registration, the Mejlis was banned in Russia in 2016.

After Crimea’s annexation, Russian authorities began persecuting Hizb ut-Tahrir members despite the group’s legal status in Ukraine, where it lawfully represented diaspora interests in events and elections. This persecution has since become a tool for suppressing community solidarity and civic activity on the peninsula, particularly among Crimean Tatars.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is regarded as an extremist organization in certain other countries, including the United States. However, even the Russian authorities’ decree acknowledges that it has never engaged in violence and that there are no documented cases of involvement in separatist activities.

In 2015, mass arrests of alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir affiliates took place in Moscow and other regions. They were accused of distributing extremist literature and recruiting new members. The human rights organization Memorial considers those prosecuted for involvement in this group to be political prisoners.

Despite the absence of evidence linking Hizb ut-Tahrir to acts of terrorism, the persecution of its “members” continues to this day.

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