Right-Wing Violence and Terrorism in Post-Soviet Russia: An Extreme Case

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia witnessed the emergence of what would become Europe’s most violent right-wing extremist movement. Using extant data based on Russian NGO reporting, this paper shows how right-wing violence and terrorism escalated in the 2000s. The frequency of attacks, which mostly struck ethnic minorities, reached extraordinary levels compared to Western European countries. Russia thus stands out as an extreme case worth exploring closely in order to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. The paper proceeds to suggest and discuss possible explanations of why the Russian case stands out. Several factors are highlighted: (1) The lack of a powerful social stigma against extreme-right ideology; (2) Russia’s more violent society; (3) grievances related to rapid and high immigration; and (4) the increasingly authoritarian suppression of political (including nationalist) dissent following the turn of the millennium.