D E C A Y

D E C A Y

In the research presented below, we tried to understand the existing infrastructures of connectivity (using Telegram channels) among national movements, indigenous rights movements, and emerging structures that develop, use, and support ideas of disintegration and decolonization of the rf.

Many new channels, prominent networks, and groups have emerged after russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. These groups develop ideas of decolonization, federalization, and regional separatism. These ideas are not always interconnected and do not always stem from one another. We think it is essential to understand what is happening at the margins of the interactions between these narratives and how and on what grounds these groups interact.

We found it particularly important to explore what ideas are circulating in the projected field of decolonial discourse, as behind some channels and movements of interest stand well-known political figures with different goals and career vectors in the past

Our goal was also to create an analysis of these existing networks’ connectivity and dynamics and to make the visualization and search methodology publicly available. The data published shows the most active regions, political alliances, and temporal dynamics of active voice/project formations.

We addressed questions and clarifications to national and indigenous rights movement representatives to clarify political perspectives and better understand the common challenges we are facing now.

The analysis is based on parsing data from Telegram channels. It is important to note that many national and indigenous initiative movements are not represented in this network, as they prefer other platforms and digital services as information channels.

To describe the main visible groups, we use a provisory classification, which we don’t claim to be an exhaustive characterization. Many associations are formed according to the principle of a common enemy (the policy of the Kremlin) while having many ethical and political internal contradictions and differences. The diagram below shows the main groups and how they are positioned regarding each other.

Примечания

Field of study :

— Telegram channels and their modes of relatedness as exemplified through decolonial movements and groups that advocate for the dissolution and re-organization of the RF’s political structure.

— We proceeded out of the objective to understand the growing manifestation of decolonial efforts, which is shown among representatives of national and indigenous movements, some representatives of the Russian opposition, and recent/emerging networks of channels with a diverse spectrum of identity politics.

— We analyzed ideas andpolitico-economicperspectives on the development of decolonial foundations and, as a consequence, desired political agendas.

— Our objective was also to clarify demarcation lines ofpolitical imagination and intersecting logics of groups that, at first glance, seem to be thinking in a common direction: separation of regional autonomies from the centralized power of Moscow and the acquisition of territorial independence and de-occupation.

Our hypotheses: 

The movements on decolonization of the rf represent several different groups with different interests.
There are radically different core logics within the existing polyphony of ideas about the decolonization of the russian federation.
The unifying markers of the groups are the ideas of decentralization of moscow’s power and the reorganization of putin’s russia.
Question of tactics and methods inevitably arises while studying these groups and movements. The adjacence of russian nationalists, prominent political figures, and anonymous, partisan direct action channels next to national and indigenous rights movements raises questions.
Taking into account the activities of russian political technologists and the cases fabricated by russian security agencies against opposition activists, we considered it essential to take a closer look at and document the existing dynamics of group interaction. Also, to study what ideas are behind the use of terminology about the collapse of the rf.​​​​​​​

We identify the main directions that are often mixed at the boundaries of interaction:

• 1.  National and indigenous rights movements.
• 2.  Political-technological interests of well-known political actors transferred from other areas into the field of decolonial intentions.
• 3. ethnic separatism and regionalism. This co-exists with Russian nationalism and its old infrastructures (RNE, DPNI, ROS, etc.)
• 4. Militant national units fighting on the side of Ukraine.
• 5. Radical methods of direct action. Guerrilla and anonymous resistance, often overlapping with 2 or 3 groups.
• 6. Threat of infiltration. Imitation of channel group 5.

Where the reader should follow to observe this as well:

We enclose several PDF schematics with different zooms, a general description of the field, this study’s algorithms, and the search’s technical methodology. These schematics contain essential information and necessary references to the sources of the work. 

All materials are open source, available for download, and for independent study/extension.

Observation Algorithm:

• -We compiled a list of channels supporting the ideas of decolonization of the rf; involved in a common field of discussions, debates, reposts, congresses, producing manifestos and political programs. We selected channels according to the principle of interconnectedness and the use of key rhetorical markers (decolonization, disintegration, separatism, regionalism, struggle for the rights of indigenous peoples, struggle against imperialism).
• — We identified the obvious nodes of connectedness among them and analyzed them -what ideas, goals, jointly-conducted events, and statements build group and semantic alliances.
• — We paid attention to the political biography of known (not anonymous) representatives of channels and movements, taking into account their infrastructure of connectivity with other political movements and goals in some сases.
• — We analyzed the connectedness of networks based on cross-memories and common reactions to selected events. 
• — We looked at the time scale and the graphs of the appearance of channels and networks before and after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the rf:

In the graph above, you can see the existing infrastructure highlighted in green before 02/24/22/22 and the one that appeared (labeled in pink) after the start of the invasion.​​​​​​​

Methodology Description:

Data

The data was collected by spider https://github.com/iggisv9t/tgcrawler based on the scraper from Bellingcat https://github.com/bellingcat/snscrape . It is important to mention that the scraper collects only channels available for viewing through a browser without logging into Telegram. While writing the text, we collected more than 1.5M channels of different topics by traversing in with separate attention to different areas of interest. In this case, we additionally downloaded a manually compiled list of channels and their nearest neighbors by reposts and mentions.
The data structure contains primarily a graph of mentions and reposts by channels to each other. That is, if channel 1 mentioned or reposted channel 2, we will have a directed edge from the first to the second. The texts of posts with publication dates were also collected but in a much smaller number due to technical limitations and the laboriousness of the subsequent analysis.

Data preparation

For visual analysis and interpretation, we made graph visualizations. An essential characteristic of graph visualizations is the grouping of dense communities. Visually noticeable are «clumps» of channels that repost channels within their group more often than outside. Thus, we can conclude the existence of zones of influence and groups of common interests or shared activities.

To prepare the visualizations, we used the following general scheme with different variations:

1. Data offloading. According to the initial list of channels, we uploaded their reposts and reposts of neighbors. Here, we optionally added filtering by the share of reposts to reduce noise and leave only strong links between channels. Tools: Custom Python scripts
2. Graph preparation. From the lists of edges, i.e. reposts and citations, we collected a graph for visualization, stacked it, and exported it for analysis. Tools we used: for stacking — Gephi https://gephi.org , for visual analysis Retina https://ouestware.gitlab.io/retina/beta/ .
   
   For sighting analysis, we also used the Neo4j interface https://neo4j.com .

Analysis and interpretation

1. First data obtained based on the channel list:
[June 2023].

Here, we have seen that the channels from the list are tightly interacting with each other and how they are positioned relative to each other.

2. The following graph, was made considering the neighbors of the selected channels:

Here, we can see that the overriding centers are the large media channels with large audiences and dense online activity, which are included in the graph based on reposts. This does not reflect their involvement in the specific markers that were used to select channels for the study.

At the same time, on this graph, we can trace more detailed interrelations of the channels we are interested in:

Example 1:

3. Returning to the first graph, we see several sense nodes and conditional fields — the channel networks:

We have been looking at this markup (General Graph 1) as if there are three prominent and profound groups:

1. Purple («Decolonial Perspectives») — League of Free Nations, Free Idel Ural, and Neighbors.
2. Green group («FSNPR Infrastructure») — FSNPR (Forum of Peoples of Post-Russia) and neighbors.
3. Orange («Ethnic Separatism and Regionalism») — Free Voronezh, Republic of Siberia, Belgorod People’s Republic and neighbors. 

We will analyze each of the groups in more detail below.

4. Next, we updated the data by expanding the list with newly appeared channels. We visualized a graph that filters the frequency of mentions based on the principle of outgoing reposts. We take a frequency of at least 5% of total mentions. Here’s what we got:

This arrangement showed us the relationship to one another that the channels of interest are in. Smaller local channels moved away from the main centers.
Bringing the diagram closer, we see that the centers are still manifested, but more new channels, connections, and relationships are manifested.
Here are the main ones:

One group of channels — «Decolonial Perspectives» — is highlighted here.
Two centers are prominent in this node: Free Idel-Ural @FreeIdelUral and League of Free Nations  https://t.me/League_FN ​​​​​​​​.

Group 2 «FSNPR Infrastructure» is highlighted.
FSNPR «A communication platform and a platform for finding better solutions for Decolonization and Reconstruction of Post-Russia»

3 more densely interacting centers are noticeable. They do not fit into the previous graph which is conventionally named «Ethnic Separatism and Regionalism» group.

Instead of one supposed center node, we see three discernible ones:

— National Renaissance Assembly
— RPA Black Bridge
— RDK (Russian Volunteer Corps)

What we have observed by doing a more detailed analysis of the connections of each of these groups:

— A zoomed-in view of the National Renaissance Assembly (@nr_assembly )

«Our goal: to create new prosperous states on the remains of the RF.
Our strategy:
Supporting the forces of warriors on the front and underground by all means.» :

The group having the center @nr_assembly marked in blue on the graph accommodates channels developing ideas of regional independence and ethnic separatism. They have two main centers of intensity: @nr_assembly and @alliance_freedom, which contain channels from the third group, which we labeled as «Ethnic separatism, regionalism» (Free Voronezh, Republic of Siberia, Belgorod People’s Republic and neighbors). 
In the very first data acquisition scheme, @nr_assembly and @alliance_freedom were not visible because they did not exist. 

A more complete list of @nr_assembly neighbors:

— Black Bridge RPD zoom in (@BlackBridgeSupport)
«Cotton must bloom» :

The group of channels that correlates (neighbors) with RPD Black Bridge consists of channels of «direct action» or guerrilla movements (Rospartizan) that oppose and/or promote ideas of resistance to the kremlin’s power. It also includes conventional «regionalists» — channels that establish a local identity tied to a territory (Urals, Siberia) in opposition to moscow. A detailed analysis of the neighbors shows human rights and anarchist initiatives (BoAk) nearby. The group interacts closely with the core group Assembly of National Revival (see description above).
The neighborhood infrastructure of LSR (Legion of Free Russia), RDK (Russian Volunteer Corps), and Civil Council, which is engaged in recruiting volunteers for the AFU, can be seen.

Close zoom of the adjacent channels of the RPA Black Bridge:

Additionally, Black Bridge RPA and Neighbors:

Further, zoom into RDK to see more of its related channels.
RDK (Russian Volunteer Corps) and neighbors:

What we can see in this graph is that it is more likely that the neighbors are mentioning RDK. We see that there are not so many symmetric reposts, mostly about military infrastructure. This allows us to put this channel and its immediate neighbors in the category of Combat Units, which are not a part of this study, but are indicated in their existence in the graphs and the overall schemes. 

---

5. We performed the same analysis of neighbors and interconnections on the graph with a filter for 3% of reposts from the total percentage of mentions:

The reduced repost rate (3%) is a more passable filter for visualizing neighbors through reposts.
The dynamics of groups and relationships are preserved here. Described groups remain near, overlap, and interact tightly directly or through neighbors. 

The third described center is slightly displaced in its conditional place, the @alliance_freedom Alliance channel. It is almost identical in coalition composition and interrelations with the previously mentioned @nr_assembly Assembly of National Revival, which is evident from analyzing the channels’ content. 

Closest neighbors of groups that are in close zoom but don’t fall into the described categories:

Here, we see such channels as Ingria without borders, Ruthenorum radicalium, Ilya Ponomarev, and a group of channels directly related to him (Congress of People’s Deputies, Roman Popkov, Morning of February). We can also see the connection of Ilya Ponomarev’s channels with the node of RPA channels Cherny Most and LSR through the channel Rospartizan. 

channel groups

From the graphs seen, we can conclude that there are at least 4 stable groups that have overlaps between them but are distinct enough to be categorized separately. 

Based on zooming in on each group and analyzing the stable infrastructure actors around the visible nodes/channels of tg, we classified the notional four groups:

1. Decolonial perspectives
2. FSNPR infrastructures
3. ethnic separatism and regionalism
4. Combat Units

We will describe and cite the first three groups in more detail, leaving the fourth group unanalyzed. The «Combat Units» group is the most independent, overlapping with the others only through LSR, RDK, Siberian Battalion, and Civic Council. The other actors of the group act autonomously.
Dynamics of the formation of new connections through emerging channels and subdivisions are in the stage of formation and represent a separate topic for analysis. 

Based on the classification and names of groups that were built:

Studying each conditional group, we saw a regular list of neighbors and analyzed the main ideas they developed. 

Thus, we saw that in the «Decolonial Perspectives» group, there are channels that have been working in decolonial thought for a long time, covering the indigenous agenda, or having known and verified representatives of national movements. Verified means recognized and known in the region/diaspora/movement from which public representation is carried out. 

The group of channels we refer to as «FSNPR Infrastructure» — includes newly created channels (after 24.02.22), the main activity of which takes place around the forum events. The group includes many actors from the third described group, «Ethnic Separatists and Regionalism» and overlaps with some actors and associations from the group «Decolonial Perspectives.”

«Ethnic Separatists and Regionalists» — the characteristic feature of the group is the construction of a regional identity, opposing itself to the center of russia. There are almost no calls for the rights of indigenous peoples. Emphasis on the production of new political identities that are ethnically separate. Includes ideas of Russian nationalism, utterly absent from the first group, Decolonial Perspectives.  Almost all channels in the group were created after the rf invasion of Ukraine, except for some partisan direct action channels. It actively overlaps with channels calling for direct guerrilla action and with channels that carry out and support recruiting people into the emerging combat units.

Anonymous, networked participants also characterize it. Channels with their own regional network (e.g., OVOD):

What we were able to verify and what we were not:

• — By obtaining a visualization of channels and their connectedness in the graphs, we saw clear distinctions in cluster formation. This is consistent with assumptions about the wide range of differences in policies and tactics within visible groups. Groups that correlate themselves with the following agendas: decolonization of the Russian Federation, regional autonomies, independent national republics, rights of indigenous peoples, and ethnic separatism.
• — The graphs show densely formed alliances and critical groups. Despite the agendas’ differences, most channels and groups appear connected through reposts and mentions. 
• — One can see the dynamics of the emergence of channels and the formation of networks developing decolonial and separatist discourses — before and after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. A lot of channels were formed afterward. This dynamic is typical for all groups of channels.  
• — Groups with radical differences in the past unite around a common enemy — the centralized power of the Kremlin. They build coalitions on this basis and participate in joint congresses, although not necessarily undergoing a separation procedure (russian nationalists also participate in some joint congresses).
• Internal tensions are visible when examining the content and outcomes of interactions, but this information is not readable in the digital graphs. 
• — Channel groups that looked like a pre-established network become legitimized in the general field over a few months of administration and construct and/or find their target audience. (some of the groups are integrated into alliances or are located within the infrastructure of the FSNPR). 
• — It was not possible to see and analyze the basis of interest in anonymous channels of «direct action». It was not possible to see and analyze the grounds for the interest of anonymous «direct action» channels calling for radical actions in «ethnic separatism» alliances. 
• — It was not possible to foresee and predict
• infiltration threat patterns for the movements (for technical reasons).

What else can be looked at and checked:

• — To analyze collective responses (reposts, information thrown in, reactions) to key events for the general field. 
• — Analyses and comparisons of movement reactions to problematic events and disputes for the collective dynamic. Reactions to divergent tactics within groups and alliances.
• — Analyze the close dates of channel networks, which would indicate the formation of infrastructure pre-planned. 
• — Examine the nature of relationships between classified groups. Demonstrate the limits of interaction between polar logics. 
• — Analyze and see in detail the network channels that have representations (duplicate channels) in different regions. 

Based on the data described above, we identify a conditional classification

of the main (most manifested) groups of telegram channels that indirectly or directly use the decolonial agenda, ideas of regional autonomies, and separation-isms (national, ethnic, economic, cultural, territorial, linguistic) from the rf.

We emphasize that the algorithm for getting into a common group works on the principle of dominance of common ideas and values, which does not indicate the erasure of differences within associations. on certain issues (e.g., queer politics and armed rebellion) polar differences of opinion and tactics are possible.

1. «Decolonial Perspectives»

Channels with the direct speech of indigenous peoples and national movements in their posts, texts, and ideas. Unions are formed based on real coalitions and groups.
They include small local channels and alliance platforms united on the principle of solving common problems.
Characteristic features are criticism of the current government, the soviet project, the logics of russian liberalism, and the visible russian opposition and its representation at external congresses.
Includes a queer agenda (thanks to critical work by feminists within the groups) and a critical reflection on russian imperialism: the history of oppression, genocides, the forcible annexation of territories to rf, and the demystification of bolshevik ideas.  It also includes groups of channels without a clearly manifested political contour, united by common ecological tasks — care of place (environmental protests and forms of grassroots and effective resistance supported by various social strata) and channels developing national and indigenous languages and cultures. 

In some cases, the conditional group includes channels with a discourse of traditional values and manifest nationalist agendas, defending the interests of specific ethnic and linguistic groups and conducting separation procedures from the «russian world.”
For example:
The Democratic Association of Peoples (DAN) statement on understanding equality in nationalism works to clarify and divide:

«*About nationalism. We distinguish between the nationalism of oppressors and the nationalism of oppressed nations. In many ways, these nationalisms are opposites — as the struggle for the extension of one’s own privileges and the restriction of others’ rights struggle for one’s own rights. However, an emancipatory nationalism that achieves emancipation and the realization of cultural and national rights gradually deprives the nationalism of the «own» nation of its emancipatory beginning. It can potentially become its opposite — ordinary oppressive nationalism. We urge you to keep this in mind and to be cautious and balanced in assessing the limits of one’s rights and the rights of others. Any chauvinism restrictions on civil rights based on ethnic origin are unacceptable to us. We do not see a fundamental need for ethnic quotas for people with power, but this question is open and may have local variants of answers.
At the same time, it should be understood that some carriers of imperial consciousness will perceive deprivation of privileges as a «limitation» of their rights, for example, the need to know not only the Russian language to hold an official position in a multi-ethnic region. This colonial perception will take a long time and must be purposely eradicated.»

 Representatives of the groups are aimed at thinking through and implementing political and economic programs to develop their own regions. For example, at the Congress of Buryat, political organizations for the independence of Buryatia, the Buryat Independence Committee, and the formation of the Buryat army — Buryaad Tsagda — were created.

The main ideas:

DAN:
«Draft manifesto of the Democratic Association of Peoples.
We are for the right of nations and territories to self-determination and for broad federalism.
We are for the cultural and linguistic rights of the people of Russia
We are democrats.
We are socialists.
We are for equal rights:
*On nationalism.
*On gender equality.
*On attitudes toward LGBT people.»

The League of Free Nations:

«We have the following objectives:
Consolidation of anti-imperial forces;
training of personnel for nation-building;(может Training of personnel to work in state construction;?)
search for allies in the international arena;
acquisition of the real sovereignty of the constituent entities of the rf;
realization of the right to self-determination.»

DECOLONIAL SOLIDARITY:

Nothing about us without us
«A truly democratic society is impossible if some voices are louder than others. Building healthy interethnic relations cannot happen without the active participation of all parties to these relations.
With this letter, we, an association of indigenous, national, and decolonial activists from russia, appeal to everyone — different organizations, societies, movements, media, and everyone reading — to stand in solidarity with us, to try to adhere to the principles described in the letter, the most important of which is #nothing_about_us_without_us.
Distribute this or other posts, download pictures of the letter in our telegram t.me/Decolonialsolidarity, and apply these principles in your life.»
Distribute this or other posts, download pictures with the letter in our telegram https://t.me/Decolonialsolidarity, apply these principles to your life.

Call for the decolonization of the russian federation:https://syg.ma/@media-resistance-group/prizyv-k-diekolonizatsii-rossiiskoi-fiedieratsii 

have active representation outside and inside the rf.

key actors:

(not everyone is represented)
Decolonize Russia https://t.me/decolonize_russia, Free Yakutia Foundation @freeyakutiafoundation, Ruslan Gabbasov https://t.me/ruslan_gabbasov , , Free Nations League https://t.me/League_FN , https://t.me/Bkr_YangTusgaar ​​​​​​, Buryad Mongolia @tusgaarburyad, Independent Sakha Movement @SakhaRepublic, Free Idel-Ural / Free Idel-Ural @FreeIdelUral, Decolonial Solidarity https://t.me/s/Decolonialsolidarity , DAN https://t.me/s/sul_jul, Free Buryatia Foundation https://t.me/freeburyatiafoundation, Committee of Buryad Independence https://t.me/Buryatia_Independens , Erk-cholә Khalmg Tanish // Free Kalmykia https://t.me/freekalmykiafoundation.

2. «Ethnic Separatists and Regionalism.» 

A network of sparse channels with content on the diversity of ethnic identity politics.
For example, the manifesto Volnaya Tver:

«The present-day Tver region is characterized by historical and cultural diversity.

It is inhabited by descendants of the Smolensk and Pskov Kriviches, Slovenes of Ilmen, and Karelians who settled in the region eastern part in the XVII-XVIII centuries. The modern Tverschina on its land has known many great states, including the Grand Duchy of Smolensk, the Grand Duchy of Tver, the Republic of Novgorod, later the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of the Two Nations.
…

The Tver region must revive its historical, cultural, and political identity and subjectivity, largely leveled by Moscow’s centralization policy, especially during the 20th century.»

In the conditional group, dominant ideas around ethnic, non-political nationalism (except for Ingria Will Be Free, which states that anyone can become an Ingermanladian).

Include Russian nationalism (e.g. RDK).

The formed alliances include «partisan» channels of «regionalists» (channels that do not declare belonging to indigenous peoples and existing national movements but actively support the ideas of regional secession or armed sabotage and rebellion against the current government).

In this group of channels, contradictions between the ideas of Russian nationalists and representatives of ethnic separatist groups are noticeable. 

In the graph below, we can see that some channels from the group «Ethnic Separatists and Regionalism» use the code slogan 14/88 in their names:

General graph 6, fragment. 1488. Retina
[July 2023].

Also, the group neighbors the ideas of RDK (separation of Russian land for Russians) and the ideas of separation of territories based on non-Russianness and ethnic diversity, which generates apparent disputes. (V.Kryukov and his calls to kill Ingermanlanders separatists at the conference organized by the «Republic of Pereslavia» — «First Eurasian Unity» which refers to A.Dugin and ESM).

Relatively close to the graphs and reposts, there are combat battalions (RDK, Siberian Battalion, etc., under formation) and the accompanying infrastructure for recruiting volunteers to the side of Ukraine (Civil Council). 

Main Ideas: 

National Renaissance Assembly
Our goal: to create new prosperous states on the remains of the Russian Federation.
Our strategy:
Supporting the forces of the warriors on the front and underground with all means and resources

Anti-Colonial «ALLIANCE» — an organization aimed at dismantling Russia and the revival of nation-states on their ancestral territories.
The military and political bloc of national formations, the Kuban Cossack Army, the Karelian National Battalion, and the All-Velvedenie Voisko Donskoe have successfully passed the initial training stage and entered combat positions.

The Assembly of National Revival will continue to help the real existing movements, which take an open anti-russian position and advocate independence not just in word but in deed.

OVOD
We are the radical All-Civil All-Russian Liberation Movement «Freedom and Will».
Our goal: the overthrow of the Putin regime.
Peaceful protest is the worst form of submission.
Glory, Veche! Glory forever!

​​​​​​​

Some representatives:

FSNPR — (forum of free peoples of post-russia, organizer Oleg Magaletsky)

A project created with the support of well-known political figures (I. Ponomarev, etc) promoting the idea of the breakup of rf into independent republics.
It emerged almost simultaneously with the League of Free Nations, against the background of one being insensitive to decolonial optics congresses of well-known Russian liberal political figures. (Navalny, Free Russia Forum — Khodorkovsky, Kasparov etc).

Consists of the participation of «Ethnic Separatists», overlapping in some cases with the group «Decolonial Perspectives.” 

Intersects with the Congress of People’s Deputies, which includes such persons as I. Ponomarev, Baranovsky, V. Kryukov (defends the existence of «genocide of the Russian people»), which causes disputes with the declared values of some groups that are part of the «FSNPR Infrastructure.”

This group neighbors the ideas of extreme right-wing Russian nationalism and representatives of indigenous movements against which these ideas were directed (racial hatred, xenophobia, white supremacy).

Nearby is the LSR and its related channels. (a militant unit, the Legion of Free Russia).  

The intersections of such different groups occur mainly at international conventions to articulate local agendas, as opposed to Russian liberal media and speakers whose voices are still actively heard from Western podiums. 

Currently, it is a platform for capturing existing movements under a single brand — FSNPR — and is one of the few internationally visible platforms that draws attention to the need to break up the Russian Federation and decentralize power in Moscow. 

 

the main ideas of the congresses: 

«THE FORUM OF FREE STATES OF POSTRUSSIA IS A PLATFORM FOR COMMUNICATION AND ANALYTICS, A PLATFORM FOR DISCUSSION, AS WELL AS THE SEARCH FOR BETTER SOLUTIONS.
Forum participants develop approaches to the creation of transitional administrations and governments of post-Putin independent states of Russia, discuss minimization of risks of uncontrolled collapse in critical sectors (including demilitarization with complete renunciation of nuclear arsenal), engage in the formation of a new architecture of collective security in Europe and develop a policy of peaceful, good-neighborly existence of the newly independent republics of Russia and neighboring states.» 

Infrastructure Participants: 

Free Nations of PostRussia Free Nations of PostRussia Forum @freenationsrussia, Congress of People’s Deputies @roskongress, Malinovy Klin — Independent Kuban @eurokuban, Pomorska Sloboda @slobodapress, Tverskaya Zemlya @tverzem ….

largely repeats the list of the «Ethnic Separatists» group.

4. «Combat units. «

Combat battalions from different years opposing the military aggression of rf and opposing the idea of territorial integrity can be singled out as a separate group.

Battalions almost do not overlap with the listed groups (except for the RDK and organized battalions in 2022-2023), and not all have representation in telegram.

Battalions fighting against the imperialist aggression of the rf: 

• Sheikh Mansur Battalion (Ichkeria)
• https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Батальон_имени_шейха_Мансура https://t.me/s/Batalon_Shaiha_Mansura
• Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion (Ichkeria)
• https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Батальон_имени_Джохара_Дудаева
• Battalion named after Khamzat Gelayev (Ichkeria)
• https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Батальон_имени_Хамзата_Гелаева 
• Separate Battalion of Special Purpose of the Ministry of Defense of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (OBON of the Ministry of Defense of the Chechen Republic of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria)
• https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Отдельный_батальон_особого_назначения 
• Imam Shamil Battalion (Dagestan)
• https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Батальон_имени_имама_Шамиля 
• Crimea Battalion (Crimean Tatar Battalion)
• https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Крым_(battalion) The battalion was established in June 2014 at the initiative of the leader of the Crimean Tatar National Association Mustafa Dzhemilev[1]. It positions itself as the «Crimean Tatar Islamic Volunteer Battalion Crimea»
• Georgian National Legion (Sakartvelo)
• https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Грузинский_национальный_легион 
• Regiment of Kalinoŭskag (Belarus)
• https://t.me/s/Belwarriors
• Kastus Kalinowski Regiment (Belarus)
• https://t.me/belwarriors
• https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Полк_имени_Кастуся_Калиновского 
• Bashkort Company
• https://www.idelreal.org/a/32159081.html 
• Muslim Corps «Caucasus»
• Diversionary-Rozviduvallna Grupa «Єдиний Кавказ») is a Caucasian Muslim volunteer combat unit formed in 2022. Participates in the Russian-Ukrainian war on the side of Ukraine.https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Мусульманский_корпус_»Caucasus» 
• Belarusian Volunteer Corps
• https://t.me/s/BDK022
• https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Белорусский_добровольческий_корпус 
• Siberian Battalion
• https://t.me/SiberianBattalion/89
• ✙ Karjalan Kansallinen Pataljoona — Karelian National Battalion 🇺🇦
• https://t.me/karjalavapaa 
• RDK Russian Volunteer Corps
• https://t.me/s/russvol

General scheme of approximate dispositions and scale of groups:

(available for detailed study in separate fragments, in pdf format)

* This scheme does not take into account or map the small anarchist initiatives that support the ideas of the first group of Decolonial Perspectives, nor does it consider the small localized channels that deal with indigenous languages and support for national cultures.