Russian National Union Ру́сский Национа́льный Сою́з | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Konstantin Kassimovsky Aleksei Vdovin |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Dissolved | 1999 |
| Split from | Pamyat |
| Merged into | Russian National Socialist Party |
| Newspaper | Shturmovhik |
| Ideology | Neo-Nazism Clerical fascism Russian nationalism |
| Political position | Far-right |
| International affiliation | NSDAP/AO |
| Party flag | |
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The Russian National Union (Russian:Ру́сский Национа́льный Сою́з,romanized: Russky Natsionalny Soyuz) was aNeo-Nazi party inRussia. The party should not be confused withRussian National Unity, a larger group with similar roots, although with no direct connection.
The Russian National Union was first formed in 1993 as a hardline splinter group of thenationalistPamyat organisation.[1] Based inMoscow, the party was jointly led byKonstantin Kassimovsky andAleksei Vdovin.[2] The new group was supported by Aleksandr Shtilmark and his influentialfar right journalChernaya sotnya (Black Hundreds), Shtilmark having quit Pamyat in 1992.[3]
The party adopted its own flag, which it claimed represented the letterschi andrho in theGreek alphabet, although critics have argued that it is a deliberate attempt to recall theswastika, including in its use of theNazi colours of red, white and black.[4] Members of the party have carried swastika flag at far right rallies however.[5]
The RNU became noted for itsneo-Nazism and it attracted a strong current ofWhite power skinhead support, helping to co-ordinate the activities of skinhead gangs by the mid 1990s.[6] It stressed strongethnocentrism andracism as part of its political discourse.[7] RNU also formed alliances with like-minded groups elsewhere, particularly in western Europe.[6]
It produced its own newspaper,Shturmovhik, which became noted for the stronganti-Semitism which defined its content.[8] Named for aNazi Party publicationDer Stürmer this paper, and its sister magazineNatsiia (Nation) were noted for their heavy reliance onGermanNazism.[9] The pages ofShturmovhik also contained regular attacks on Black andCaucasian immigrants.[3] Another newspaper,Russky nablyudatel (Russian Observer), began publication in 1995 under the editorship of R. Lobzova.[1]
As well as Nazism the RNU emphasised the importance ofRussian Orthodoxy to its ideology and saw the religion as a central part of its concept of Russian ethnic identity.[10] Amongst the leading members of the party was Anatolii Makeev, who sought to connect the party's neo-Nazi ideas with a distinctly more Russian brand of nationalism. In 1994 he established the Oprichnina Brotherhood of St Iosof Volotsky, a group that has encouraged violent racism in religious terms and which has established groups inSaint Petersburg andVolgograd, as well as amongst émigrés inSacramento.[11] Its stated aims are to unite the Orthodox Church and to re-establish the monarchy, although its propaganda focuses mainly on anti-Semitism and neo-Nazism.[11] Makeev is a member of the Russian Catacomb Church, an offshoot of theRussian True Orthodox Church, although his brotherhood retains links to members of both the dissident tendencies and mainstreamRussian Orthodox Church.[11]
Another extremist Orthodox group, theSoyuz 'Khristianskoe vozrozhdenie' (Union of Christian Rebirth), also held joint meetings with the RNU.[3]
The party failed to secure the requisite number of signatures to run candidates in the1993 Duma election and so did not take part.[12] One candidate was elected as an independent however.[13]
Vdovin was expelled from the RNU in spring 1997 with Kassimovsky confirmed as sole leader of the party.[3] The party disappeared in late 1998 or early 1999 when Kassimovsky began to move away from the religious trappings associated with the RNU. He soon emerged with a new more secular, but equally neo-Nazi, party known as theRussian National Socialist Party.[10]
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