A court in Volzhsky has declared the "Russian Security Committee"* extremist.

The Volzhsky City Court of the Volgograd Region has ruled to ban the "Committee for Security of Russia" (KOBR), a local residents' association that denies the collapse of the USSR.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," On January 17, 2024, the Volgograd Regional Court began hearing the appeal of pensioners Alexander Gaivoronsky, Sergei Dorofeev, and Leonid Lavrentyev, whom the Volzhsky City Court sentenced to three years in prison on extremism charges. During the appeal hearing, members of the Volzhsky branch of the "Committee for Security of Russia"* alleged tampering with their testimony, pressure from investigators, and falsification of the case, and also complained about the lack of medical care in the pretrial detention center. At the end of January 2024, the Volgograd Regional Court upheld the sentence of three pensioners.

The Volgograd Region Office of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation filed an administrative claim with the Volzhsky City Court against the Volgograd Regional Branch of the All-Russian Public Association "Committee for Security of Russia" (KOBR)* to recognize the organization as extremist and ban its activities in the Volgograd Region, the press service of the Volgograd Regional Court reported today.

According to the court, from the end of August 2021 to July 27, 2022, Schneider, Gaivoronsky, Lavrentyev, and Dorofeyev jointly participated in the activities organized by Schneider in the territory Volgograd Region extremist group – the Volgograd Regional Branch of the KOBRA*. The court found the organization's goal to be a change of power in the Russian Federation by violent means, including waging armed combat, armed resistance to the Russian authorities, and committing violent acts against government officials.

On September 29, 2023, the Volzhsky City Court of the Volgograd Region found Gaivoronsky, Dorofeev, and Lavrentyev guilty of publicly calling for extremist activity and organizing an extremist group. On December 14 of that same year, the court also found Schneider guilty of organizing an extremist community.

The court found that the aforementioned sentences were sufficient to recognize the activities of the Volgograd regional branch of the COBR* as extremist, and therefore, the plaintiff's claims were found to be justified.

"By the decision of the Volzhsky City Court of the Volgograd Region dated March 18, 2026, the claims of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the Volgograd Region were satisfied in full," the court said.

"They are accused of creating a criminal group, but the case file contains a decision to refuse to initiate criminal proceedings (on the creation of a criminal group), meaning it also contains information that they did not plan to commit any terrorist crimes," Lavrentyev's lawyer stated. Vasily Ovchinnikov, speaking to Kommersant, stated:

The lawyer also clarified that no weapons or flammable substances were found on the defendants during the searches. The regional FSB had previously published a recording containing material evidence—minutes of KoBR* meetings—and other documents from the organization's regional branch. According to Vasily Ovchinnikov, the agency's officers themselves concluded that the defendants lacked the ability to seize anything by force or with weapons, due to their lack of weapons.

Ovchinnikov compared KoBR* to the organization "USSR" (Union of Slavic Forces of Russia), where people were issued "Soviet passports." Members could purchase "ranks" and "documents"—for example, committee membership cards—for a small fee. The lawyer clarified that the committee also provided some assistance to citizens, including legal consultations, the publication reported.

* The organization is recognized as extremist, and its activities are banned in Russia.

** Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.