Russian Imperial Movement

"Imperial Legion" redirects here. For the legions of the Roman Empire, see Roman legion.
Not to be confused with Wagner Group or Rusich Group.
Russian Imperial Movement
Русское Имперское Движениe
LeaderStanislav Vorobyov
Foundation2002
Country Russia
MotivesReconvening of Zemsky Sobor to re-establish the Russian Empire
HeadquartersSt. Petersburg
IdeologyAccelerationism[1][2]
Clerical fascism
Russian nationalism
Russian irredentism
Christian nationalism
White supremacy
Monarchism
Anti-communism
Antisemitism
Neo-Nazism[3]
Expansionist nationalism[4]
Anti-Ukrainian sentiment[4][5]
Political positionFar-right
AlliesIn Russia:

Far-right Russian irregular units in Ukraine

Outside Russia:

Battles and warsCentral African Republic Civil War (2012–present)[10]
Libyan Civil War (2014–2020)
Syrian Civil War
Russo-Ukrainian War
Designated as a terrorist group by Canada
3 February 2021[11]
 United States
6 April 2020[12]
Websitehttps://rusimperia.is/ [archive]

The Russian Imperial Movement (RIM; Russian: Русское имперское движениe, romanized: Russkoye imperskoye dvizheniye, RID)[13] is a Russian ultranationalist and white supremacist[14][15] militant organization[16] which operates out of Russia.[17][18][19][20] The group seeks to create a new Russian Empire. Its paramilitary wing is the Russian Imperial Legion. During the Donbas War, it recruited and trained thousands of far-right volunteers who joined the Russian separatist forces in Ukraine.[21] It has also given training to other far-right groups in Europe and North America.

Its leader is Stanislav Vorobyov.[16][22] It has been designated as a terrorist group by the United States[23][24] and Canada.[11] Some of its publications have been blacklisted in Russia, although the Russian government refuses to designate the group as a terrorist organization.[25]

  1. ^ Johnson, Bethan; Feldman, Matthew (2021-07-21). "Siege Culture After Siege: Anatomy of a Neo-Nazi Terrorist Doctrine". International Centre for Counter-Terrorism: 1. Archived from the original on 2021-10-15. Retrieved 2021-10-15. While [ Atomwaffen Division and Russian Imperial Movement ] are serial purveyors of online extremism and often celebrate terrorism in their fora, deeper similarities extend to a shared ideological embrace of "accelerationism" and, in particular, a recently-revived doctrine advanced by the neo-Nazi ideologue, James Mason, now termed "Siege Culture"....terroristic advocacy of "Siege Culture" has a radicalising effect on right-wing extremists.
  2. ^ Brian Castner (20 October 2023). "The White Power Mercenaries Fighting For the Lost Cause Around the World". Time. Wagner shares with some American militias a particular apocalyptic philosophy: accelerationism, or a desire to foment immediate radical social upheaval. Perhaps the most well-known American accelerationists are the Boogaloo Bois...Accelerationism wants to bring on the war soon, while whites are perceived as still being in a better position to win. "The Boogaloo and the Russian Imperial Legion share a common worldview", Rondeaux said.
  3. ^ "Russian Imperial Movement (RIM)". Counter Extremism Project. 6 October 2022. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Организация русских имперцев стала террористической. Как она воевала в Украине". Радіо Свобода (in Russian). 7 April 2020.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference neo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Mapping Militant Organizations. "Russian Imperial Movement". Stanford University. Last modified August 2020. Archived 2022-09-04 at the Wayback Machine "In late 2014, RIM joined a coalition of Russian-far right groups named the Russian National Front. As of 2020, this umbrella includes other ultra-nationalist organizations such as the Great Russia Party, the People's Militia in the Name of Minin and Pozharsky (NOMP), the Movement For Nationalization and De-Privatization of Strategic Resources of the Country, the Initiative Group for the Referendum "For a Responsible Power" (IGPR "ZOV"), the Russian People's Council, and the Union of Orthodox Banner Bearers."
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference futures was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "The Brown Internationale". Die Zeit. 30 September 2022. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  9. ^ ""Russian politicians building an international extreme right alliance". Euromaidan Press. Last modified September 2015". 15 May 2014. Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
  10. ^ "Radical Russian Imperial Movement Expanding Global Outreach". VOA. 9 May 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-03-25. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
  11. ^ a b "Government of Canada lists 13 new groups as terrorist entities and completes review of seven others". Government of Canada. 3 February 2021. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  12. ^ "Designation of the Russian Imperial Movement". State. Archived from the original on 2022-05-10. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  13. ^ Marlene Laruelle, Russian Nationalism: Imaginaries, Doctrines, and Political Battlefields (Routledge, 2019), pp. 167, 202-203.
  14. ^ Soufan, Ali; Sales, Nathan (5 April 2022). "One of the worst ways Putin is gaslighting the world on Ukraine". NBC News. NBC. Archived from the original on 2023-03-12. Retrieved 2022-06-08. Then there's the white supremacist group known as the Russian Imperial Movement, or RIM, which the State Department designated a terrorist organization in 2020 (an effort led by one of the authors here, Nathan Sales). With the Kremlin's tacit approval, the group operates paramilitary camps near St. Petersburg in which neo-Nazis and white supremacists from across Europe are trained in terrorist tactics.
  15. ^ John Hudson, U.S. labels a white-supremacist group 'terrorist' for the first time Archived 2020-12-24 at the Wayback Machine, Washington Post (April 6, 2020).
  16. ^ a b Nato: Främlingshatet kan gödas av främmande makt Archived 2021-12-10 at the Wayback Machine, Dagens Nyheter 2015-10-27
  17. ^ "Sanctions Roundup" (PDF). 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-05-17. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  18. ^ "Russian, American white nationalists raise their flags in Washington". 2017. Archived from the original on 2022-06-20. Retrieved 2022-03-18. Russian Imperial Movement is just such a partner to help achieve a sort of internationalized nationalism, especially out of Russia.
  19. ^ "Russian Imperial Movement (RIM)". Archived from the original on 2022-01-22. Retrieved 2022-03-18. operating out of Russia with supporters around the world.
  20. ^ Barone, Vincent (June 26, 2020). "State Department says threat of terrorism from white supremacists 'on the rise'". New York Post. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  21. ^ Kuzio, Taras (2015). Ukraine: Democratization, Corruption, and the New Russian Imperialism. ABC-CLIO. pp. 110–111.
  22. ^ "Stanislav Anatolyevich Vorobyev". Counter Extremism Project. Archived from the original on 2022-01-10. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  23. ^ "Designation of the Russian Imperial Movement". United States Department of State. 6 April 2020. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  24. ^ Johnson, Bethan; Feldman, Matthew (2021-07-21). "Siege Culture After Siege: Anatomy of a Neo-Nazi Terrorist Doctrine". International Centre for Counter-Terrorism: 1. Archived from the original on 2021-10-15. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  25. ^ Times, The Moscow (June 5, 2020). "Russian 'Terrorists' Training German Neo-Nazi Youth in Combat – Reports". The Moscow Times. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.