The largest nationalist association in modern Russia, the Russian Society, whose members persecute immigrants and LGBT people, receives funding from foundations linked to pro-Kremlin political scientist Sergei Mikheev and billionaire Igor Khudokormov. Journalists came to this conclusion after studying the financial documents of the Russian society. Its representatives have repeatedly emphasized that it exists solely on the donations of its members.
Igor Khodokormov is the owner of the agricultural company Prodimex. Forbes magazine resides His net worth is $1.7 billion. In the publication’s ranking of Russian billionaires, he ranks 90th.
Khodokormov is called the “Sugar King” and is considered one of the largest landowners in Russia. He rarely appears in public. “It is believed to be in the sphere of influence of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev, the son of the former director of the FSB,” claims journalist Amalia Zaatari in the BBC Eye film.
Sergei Mikheev, whose foundation also funds the Russian Society, is a political scientist and advocate, and a participant in the broadcasting of federal television channels. The film says: “He was reported to have close relations with the Kremlin and carried out missions for Russian intelligence services abroad.”
The BBC also talks about those who suffered from the actions of the Russian community.
- Members of the “Russian community”, along with the police, stormed the club on the occasion of the birthday of Katya, a resident of St. Petersburg, on suspicion that the guests of a private party were “for gay propaganda.” The guests were insulted, beaten, and their passports were photographed. Katya herself was sentenced to 200 hours of forced labor on charges of insulting the feelings of believers because of a cross-shaped lamp hanging in the club.
- The Russian Community intervened in an internal conflict in the village of Svetli, Novosibirsk region. It started when local teenagers beat up a boy from an immigrant family from Kyrgyzstan. After the beaten boy’s parents spoke with one of the teenagers, his mother called the police and members of the Russian community, saying that the immigrants had kidnapped her child and threatened to kill her. The family was threatened with criminal prosecution, but other village residents protected them. After this incident, the family returned to Bishkek.
The far-right organization “Russian Community” appeared in 2020, calling itself a means “to unite the Russian people on the principle of mutual assistance.” It has more than one hundred regional and civil branches in Russia.
The Russian Society, unlike other nationalist organizations, fully supports the Russian government. It calls for war with Ukraine, cooperates with the security forces and the Russian Orthodox Church, and its members write collective denunciations. According to the calculations of BBC journalists, in 2023-2025 the Russian community participated in more than 900 raids against immigrants and people who, in its opinion, do not share “traditional values.” 300 of these raids were carried out in conjunction with law enforcement officers.
Independent journalists called the founders of the “Russian Community” former Deputy Chairman of the Omsk City Council Andrei Tkachuk, former coordinator of the anti-abortion movement “For Life!” Yevgeny Chesnokov and the host of the Spas TV channel Andrei Afanasyev.
As Meduza discovered, Russian society not only coordinates attacks on migrants with security forces, but also carries out their tasks. It is possible that the organization emerged under the supervision of the Federal Security Service.