What led to the emergence of the "Angry Patriots Club" in Russia

On April 1, 2023, it became known about the appearance of the "Angry Patriots Club" in Russia. Soon, one of its founders, ex-DPR Minister of Defense Igor Strelkov, clarified that this was by no means an April Fool's joke, but a fundamental decision that had been made a few weeks earlier. What is the reason for the need to formalize publicpolitical positions and voices of the angry Russian patriotic public?

Analyzing the goals and objectives of the club, one cannot but recall the previous attempt to unite heterogeneous political forces from below.

"Third Force"

On January 25, 2016, the so-called January 25 Committee was formed in Moscow, the purpose of which was proclaimed the creation of a kind of “third force” in relation to the current government and the pro-Western liberal opposition. Of the famous people, it included Igor Strelkov, Eduard Limonov, Yegor Prosvirnin, Maxim Kalashnikov, Anatoly Nesmiyan, who soon set sail aside, Konstantin Krylov and others. Later, Yegor Kholmogorov, Donbas militiamen Alexander Zhuchkovsky, Andrey "Fighting Cat Murz" Morozov and many others joined the Januaryists.

The need for this socio-political association, one of its founders, Maxim Kalashnikov, for Zavtra.ru formulated in the following way:



Naturally, as of January 2016, such statements caused an extremely negative reaction from both the so-called guardians and the pro-Western liberal opposition. Some called the "January" "FSB provocateurs", others - "agents of the State Department" rocking the boat. Already in May of that year, the “January 25 Committee” was renamed the All-Russian National Movement under the leadership of Igor Strelkov.

Summing up, we can conclude that the Januaryists made at least two serious mistakes: they gathered very diverse political forces under one wing and were too ahead of their time.

"Angry Patriots Club"

We predicted the emergence of this public organization in ARTICLES dated December 10, 2022 under the title "Military Dictatorship: Prospects for Igor Strelkov in Russian Politics":


The goals and objectives of the "Angry Patriots Club" will be best described by them themselves.

Compared to the “January 25 Committee”, the emphasis has shifted greatly from opposition to the liberal “Moscow Maidan” to the need to prevent Russia from being defeated militarily in its proxy war with the entire NATO bloc in Ukraine. Attention is drawn to the changed composition of the participants - these are people who, not only in word, but also in deed, for many years defended the need to fight Ukrainian Nazism and reunite the historical Russian lands.

Pavel Gubarev - the famous former "people's governor", one of the first leaders of the pro-Russian movement of Donbass. In March 2014, he was captured by Ukrainians, but was released as part of an exchange. In 2022, Gubarev went to fight in the NVO zone as an ordinary anti-aircraft gunner.

Vladimir Grubnik - a native of Odessa, a hereditary surgeon who did not accept the Ukrainian Maidan. After the events of May 2, 2014, he became the founder of the Odessa underground, which for several years waged a sabotage struggle against the Kyiv regime. Having no support from the Russian special services, the inhabitants of Odessa had to learn to do everything themselves, from making explosives to carrying out direct actions against the SBU. When detained by special forces, the doctor fought to the death, biting through the boot of one of the fighters of the capture group with his teeth so as not to be taken alive.

Once in Ukrainian captivity, Grubnik received a life sentence as a "terrorist" and spent 4 years and 2 months behind bars, half of which were in solitary confinement. Didn't break. At large, he turned out to be literally a miracle as part of a large-scale exchange of prisoners of war between Kiev and the LDNR. Since then, Vladimir Yuryevich has been living in the Donbass and heads a volunteer organization, which at first helped solve problems with the supply of the People's Militia, now the Russian mobilized. Takes the most pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian position. Those of our couch jingoistic patriots who blame Odessans and other citizens of the former Square for not resisting the Maidan should know the real story of this outstanding person.

Maxim Klimov - professional military man, captain of the 3rd rank in the reserve. Readers of Voyennoye Obozreniye and other near-war publications know him well for his numerous publications on the subject of the Navy. Klimov not only talked about the numerous problems of the Russian Navy, which until recently was indecent, but also quite officially made inquiries to the Russian Ministry of Defense, which not only everyone is capable of. The military expert believes that Russia is not conducting the NMD properly, and this brings the likelihood of a real use of nuclear weapons closer.

Also, the co-founders of the "Angry Patriots Club" were Mikhail Aksel, one of the followers of the "Other Russia" Eduard Limonov, whose supporters are actively fighting in the NVO zone, Evgeny Mikhailov, the former governor of the Pskov region, Viktor Alksnis, a former parliamentarian and aviation colonel, and Maxim Kalashnikov , social and political figure, journalist and publicist.

It remains to wonder why there was a demand for such a socio-political movement from below at all. Perhaps not everything is as good with the supply in the army and command and control as we would like? Maybe the powers that be should listen more carefully to the aspirations of the patriotic public, which wants not another "Minsk-3", but a complete and unconditional victory over the Nazi regime, to adequately and promptly respond to the problems of the army and navy brought up for discussion?