Russian Imperial Movement

RIM's website has been found to be part of a broader cluster of websites for political groups in Russia that promote "political orthodoxy" and monarchy, drawing inspiration from the violent, antisemitic Black Hundreds of early 20th century Russia.[22] Other groups in this cluster include "For Faith and Fatherland" and the modern revival of the "Union of the Russian People."[22] The movement does not recognize the existence of Ukraine.[5]

The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism described the RIM's relationship with the Russian government as “an adversarial symbiosis”; as long as they do not commit terrorism domestically, they are free to operate and offer training to militants and to send troops to conflicts abroad where Russia has a stake in.[23]

Western intelligence officials say they believe that the RIM has ties with and cooperates with Russian intelligence. The New York Times, citing unnamed U.S. officials, states that RIM is only partially aligned with the Russian government; the movement's leadership has been critical of the government's conduct of the Ukraine invasion, and has accused Putin of corruption. Yet, the RIM and Russian intelligence share common goals abroad, leading to a symbiotic relationship in which Russian intelligence has been able to influence the RIM's actions.[24]

On 6 April 2020, the U.S. Department of State added the Russian Imperial Movement and three of its leaders (Stanislav Anatolyevich Vorobyev, Denis Valliullovich Gariyev,[25] and Nikolay Nikolayevich Trushchalov[26]) to the Specially Designated Global Terrorist list,[18] thereby making it the first white supremacist group to be designated a terrorist organization by the State Department.[15]

The group was officially designated as a terrorist group in Canada on 3 February 2021.[27][11]

The group maintains two training facilities in Saint Petersburg, one of which is known as camp Partizan, located south of Heinäsenmaa island. Partizan runs training in urban warfare, shooting, tactical medicine, high-altitude activity, military psychology, and survival.[29][15][30]

After the war in Donbas broke out in eastern Ukraine in April 2014, the RIM began training and sending volunteer soldiers to the pro-Russian groups in the conflict in July.[16]

Some members of the Imperial Legion have worked as mercenaries in the Middle East and North Africa. On January 30, 2020, it was reported that Vladimir Skopinov, who had also previously fought in Donbas and Syria, had died in Libya - the second member of the Legion to die there.[31]

Flag of the Russian Imperial Legion

RIM has provided paramilitary training to Finnish neo-Nazis.[33] Finnish neo-Nazis have been recruited by Johan Bäckman and Janus Putkonen who are aligned with Power Belongs to the People, a local pro-Russian party.[34][35][36][37][38] In July 2023 the Finnish police arrested five men in Lahti who possessed assault rifles and adhered to accelerationism and Siege and planned to ignite a race war by attacking the infrastructure, electric grid and railroads.[39] The men discussed forming a new Atomwaffen cell, and discussed assassinating Prime minister Sanna Marin. The men had at least planned training in Russia, and had met with Janus Putkonen. Additionally the group committed burglaries against left-wing targets.[40]

RIM has provided paramilitary training to German neo-Nazis.[33]

In May 2018, German Junge Nationaldemokraten held a gathering in Riesa, Germany, where representatives of RIM took part in together with related organizations such as the neo-Nazi Serbian Action and Bulgarian National Union.[41]

On 5 June 2020, the German magazine Focus reported that the German security services were aware of the training of German neo-Nazis in Russia. However, they could not prohibit the Germans from traveling to Saint Petersburg for legal reasons. The authorities assume that Russian President Vladimir Putin is aware of the camps and "at least tolerates them".[42][43]

In 2022, the German government verified that members of the German NPD youth organization Young Nationalists and the German Neo-Nazi group "Third Way" trained in Russia in this center.[44]

In November 2019, a representative of RIM held a speech in an international conference in Madrid that was organized by the[45] neo-Nazi[46] far-right Spanish political party "National Democracy" which was attended by members of Alliance for Peace and Freedom.[45]

On 29 April 2020, the Spanish Ministry of the Interior received an intelligence report which stated that RIM was inciting its right-wing extremist contacts in Spain to commit acts of terror, such as attacking the infrastructure, transportation system and using chemical weapons against the public.[47]

The RIM - possibly acting as a proxy for Russian intelligence - is believed to have perpetrated the letter bomb terrorist campaign that targeted Spanish governmental institutions, embassies, and military and defense industry installations across Spain in late 2022. Important RIM members are known to have been present in Spain, and the RIM has fostered ties with Spanish far-right groups.[24]

In 2008, RIM visited Sweden in order to attend Karl XII's Memorial Day in Stockholm together with the neo-Nazi Party of the Swedes. In the fall of 2015, it was noted that RIM had provided support to the Swedish Resistance Movement (SMR), and that RIM's leader Vorobyev had visited SMR in Sweden.[16]

On 26 January 2020, a Russian man named Anatoly Udodov was arrested at the Arlanda airport after the police had discovered a cache of weapons belonging to him. The Swedish police had confiscated numerous firearms from him the previous summer due to his connections to SMR. Udodov was described as the representative of RIM in Sweden by Vorobyev and investigators believe he is the local recruiter for the RIM training camps. According to Swedish police Udodov is friends with a convicted terrorist, 23-year-old Viktor Melin. Melin was part of a group of Swedish neo-Nazis who went to Russia for military training, and upon returning was responsible for a string of bombings against minorities and political enemies.[48]

According to an investigation which was conducted by Infobae, a new cell of Atomwaffen Division receives training from the group. The citizens of the United States who are affiliated with the group are also believed to have taken part in it.[49][50][51][7][52][29] Later, the National Counterterrorism Center Director Christopher Miller confirmed that American neo-Nazis have had contacts with the RIM; specifically, on previous occasions, they have traveled to Russia to train with the group, however Miller described these connections as "relatively loose and informal".[53][54] Leader of the Atomwaffen Division Kaleb Cole allegedly was one of the Americans who was trained by RIM. The ties between Atomwaffen and RIM reach back to 2015 when Brandon Russell met with the leadership of RIM.[55] Additionally both groups adhere to James Mason's accelerationism.[1] According to the Center for International Security and Cooperation;

While RIM has aggressively built ties with European white supremacist groups, its outreach to U.S. organizations has historically occurred on a personal – rather than a formal or an institutional – basis. As of 2020, this pattern may be changing, given RIM’s alleged relationship with the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division’s Russian affiliate.[6]

RIM has also provided paramilitary training to Polish neo-Nazis.[33]