The increasing complexity of the socio-economic situation in Russia and Russia's participation in the military operation in Syria can cause increased activity of nationalists in Russia and lead to the ethnicization of protest. This information was contained in the report "Aggressive xenophobia and radical nationalism in the Russian Federation", published by the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights.
However, according to data of the organization, during the current year, the level of aggressive xenophobia, racism and nationalism in Russia has decreased, which is caused by several factors: security officials managed to eliminate a number of the leaders of the armed underground in the North Caucasus, they are actively fighting extremism. In parallel, the anti-Russian sanctions and the Ukrainian crisis "contributed to the consolidation of society and the authorities." In addition, as the researchers note, "a split, in connection with the events in Ukraine, occurred in the ranks of Russian ethno-nationalists."
In 2015, the public activity of Russian ethno-nationalists decreased significantly. "Their marches and rallies are not gathering even half of the former number of participants, there are fewer of the so-called nationalist raids in search of illegal migrants," Kommersant cites the text of the report.
