Russian Imperial Movement (RIM)
Russkogo Imperskogo Dvizheniia
On 07 April 2020 the State Department designated the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM) and members of its leadership as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, the first time in history the Department has designated a white supremacist terrorist group. President Trump said, “In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy.” With this action, the Department added the powerful authority held by the State Department to counter terrorists to that voice.
RIM and its leaders Stanislav Anatolyevich Vorobyev, Denis Valiullovich Gariyev, and Nikolay Nikolayevich Trushchalov were designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886, for providing training for acts of terrorism that threaten the national security and foreign policy of the United States and being leaders of such a group.
RIM’s designation was enabled by President Trump’s amendment of Executive Order 13224 through Executive Order 13886, which was the most significant expansion of federal terrorist sanctions designation authorities since 9/11. The amendment empowers the State Department to designate groups and individuals that have participated in training to commit acts of terrorism, as well as persons determined to be leaders of such groups.
This designation notifies the U.S. public and the international community that RIM has participated in training to commit acts of terrorism. Designations of terrorists, both individuals and groups, expose and isolate them and deny them access to the U.S. financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement actions of other U.S. agencies and governments.
On 15 June 2022 the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated two key supporters of the ethnically motivated violent extremist group known as the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended. RIM was previously designated by the U.S. Department of State as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) organization on April 7, 2020 for having provided training for acts of terrorism. Concurrent with OFAC's action, the U.S. Department of State also designated an individual for posing a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism.
"The Russian Imperial Movement has sought to raise and move funds using the international financial system with the intent of building a global network of violent groups that foster extremist views and subvert democratic processes," said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. "RIM and its supporters continue to exacerbate Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine through their fundraising efforts. We will continue to identify opportunities to disrupt networks of racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists who seek to train, fundraise, or recruit across borders and prevent the international financial system from becoming an incubator of violent extremist activity."
This action implemented the National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism and specifically targets a Racially and Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremist (REMVE) group that has reached out to individuals in the United States. OFAC, in coordination with the Department of State, other components of the federal government, and foreign allies, will continue to identify entities and individuals that meet the criteria for designation as SDGTs pursuant to the national strategy.
Stanislav Shevchuk was designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, RIM. Alexander Zhuchkovsky was designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, RIM.
Stanislav Shevchuk, a Europe-based representative of RIM, travelled to the United States in 2017 with the objective of establishing connections between RIM and far-right extremist and white nationalist groups. He has also spoken on behalf of RIM at rallies in Europe and advocated publicly for the group throughout Europe as recently as 2019.
Alexander Zhuchkovsky, a Russia-based supporter of RIM, has repeatedly used his account on Russia-based social media platform VK, formerly known as VKontakte, to fundraise and recruit for RIM. Since 2014, Zhuchkovsky has raised over 200 million rubles to purchase weapons and military equipment for RIM and other pro-Russian fighters in the Donbas in Ukraine and has facilitated the travel of RIM fighters to the region. Since Russia began its unprovoked war against Ukraine in February 2022, Zhuchkovsky has continued using his social media accounts and online payment methods to purchase military equipment and supplies for Russian fighters carrying out the invasion of Ukraine and continued fighting in the Donbas Region. Zhuchkovsky has also taught at RIM's Partizan training center in St. Petersburg, Russia, where participants receive training to conduct acts of terrorism and violence.
The deep spiritual crisis of the Russian people increasingly forced a search for a way to establish a strong authoritarian and national power. According to the Orthodox doctrine and the centuries-old experience of Russian statehood, such power can only be sole and autocratic power (nothing and no one besides the Highest moral ideal), i.e. monarchical. The imperial principle for was inextricably linked with the universal character of the Orthodox tradition; with the concept of a universal state headed by a legitimate supreme power (“Third Rome”); with the principle of good neighborliness of ethnically, religiously, culturally different societies; with the world spiritual and geopolitical mission of Russia and the Russian people.
Thus, the only possible form of existence of Russian statehood can be considered only the Orthodox Empire, headed by the Orthodox Sovereign - the Anointed of God. Therefore, the goal of the Russian Imperial Movement is the establishment of the Supreme Monarchist power and the restoration of the Russian Empire.
Russian Imperial Movement (RIM) is a dynamically developing national-patriotic and monarchist organization. Created and operating according to the network principle, it covers many regions of historical Russia (Great Russia, Little Russia, Belarus, the Baltic States, Northern Kazakhstan) and the Russian Diaspora. "Our ideology is Orthodox imperial nationalism. Our activity is based on faith in God and Russian national tradition. The Russian Imperial Movement has firm sovereign positions that exclude the rot of liberalism and democracy in the political, moral, national issues of modern Russia, its history and future, the Russian people and the Russian Orthodox Church."
The Imperial Legion military sports club (St. Petersburg) was created to "unite Russian men who believe that in modern Russia not to be a warrior is a criminal weakness. We invite all men who share our views for classes in the following areas: the basics of hand-to-hand combat (Elementary physical training. Studying the basics of shock, throwing and painful practice and, of course, plentiful sparing); Kadochnikov’s combat survival system; power triathlon; Russian hand-to-hand fight "Buza"; survival exercises; hiking in the forest and much more."
Designations seek to deny these terrorists the resources they need to provide training to commit attacks. Among other consequences, all of their property and interests that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or hereafter come within the possession or control of U.S. persons, have been blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them.
RIM has provided paramilitary-style training to white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Europe and actively works to rally these types of groups into a common front against their perceived enemies. RIM has two training facilities in St. Petersburg, which are likely being used for woodland and urban assault, tactical weapons, and hand-to-hand combat training. RIM is led by Vorobyev, its founder and overall leader. Gariyev is the head of RIM’s paramilitary arm, the Imperial Legion. Trushchalov is RIM’s Coordinator for External Relations.
This group has innocent blood on its hands. In August 2016, two Swedish men traveled to St. Petersburg and underwent 11 days of paramilitary-style training provided by RIM. A few months later, these men and another person conducted a series of terrorist attacks in the Swedish city of Gothenburg. In November 2016, they detonated a bomb outside a café. Two months later, they bombed a migrant center, gravely injuring one person. And three weeks after that, they placed another bomb at a campsite used to house refugees. Thankfully, that device failed to detonate.
Swedish authorities were able to arrest the attackers, and they’ve now been tried and convicted for their crimes. The prosecutor who handled their case blamed RIM for radicalizing them and providing the training that enabled the attacks. The Swedish prosecutor credited RIM for their terrorist radicalization and relevant training. RIM has also provided paramilitary-style training to white supremacists from Germany, Poland, and Finland.
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