Misplaced Pages

Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists
Боевая организация анархо-коммунистов
Also known as	BOAK
Leader	Decentralized leadership
Foundation	c. September 2020 (2020-09)
Dates of operation	from 18 April 2022 (2022-04-18)
Country	Russia  Belarus
Allegiance	Russian opposition Belarusian opposition
Ideology	Anarcho-communism Insurrectionary anarchism Anti-Putinism Anti-authoritarianism
Political position	Far-left
Major actions	Rail war in Russia (2022-present) Rail war in Belarus (2022–present) Russian military commissariats attacks
Status	Active
Allies	Revolutionary Action Resistance Committee Black Bridge
Opponents	Government of Russia Government of Belarus PMC Wagner
Battles and wars	Belarusian and Russian partisan movement (2022–present)
Motto	"Freedom or death! Long live the revolution!" (Russian: «Свобода или смерть! Да здравствует революция!»)
Website	boakmirror.noblogs.org

The Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists (Russian: Боевая организация анархо-коммунистов, romanized: Boyevaya organizatsiya anarkho-kommunistov; BOAK) is a militant anarcho-communist organization in Eastern Europe, part of the Belarusian and Russian partisan movement. It aims for social revolution and a libertarian socialist society. Since the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has sabotaged railway infrastructure in Russia and Belarus, as well as attacking Russian military commissariats and telecommunications. According to The Insider, the group has become "the most active 'subversive' force" in Russia since the war began.

History

The group's blog has been active since at least September 2020. In their interviews, members of the group said that the organization has existed for years before it decided to engage in partisan activity after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The BOAK-affiliated 'Anarchist Fighter' website and Telegram channel have existed since 2018.

Opposition to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, BOAK claimed responsibility for actions designed to disrupt the logistics of the Russian Army in the Russian Federation and Belarus, organizing sabotage, arson of military registration and enlistment offices and rail wars in Belarus and Russia. A spokesperson for BOAK stated, "The war in Ukraine, unleashed by the Russian state, is a terrible tragedy, but the war created opportunities for the revolutionary minority, through partisan actions, to deepen the crisis of the system."

The name BOAK first time appeared in public on 18 April 2022 when the group claimed responsibility for sabotage of cell phone tower near village Belomestnoye in Belgorod Oblast, border region with Ukraine. The aim of an attack was declared to damage military communication network.

On 23 May 2022 BOAK claimed sabotage action against military railway tracks leading to the 12th Chief Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense near Sergiyev Posad in Moscow Oblast. According to the BOAK website, some rails were deconstructed.

On 28 June 2022 the cell "BOAK-Vladimir" published a press release claiming sabotage action on railway of military unit 55443 VD Barsovo (51st Arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation) near Kirzhach in Vladimir Oblast. The rails were damaged. BOAK's press release stated, "Every stopped train helps to get rid of missiles and rockets, which could hit peaceful Ukrainian cities!"

On 9 October 2022, BOAK posted photos of sabotaged railway tracks in Barnaul, claiming that the sabotage had successfully derailed a freight train.

In an interview with British journalist Jake Hanrahan, members of BOAK claimed that they found their targets using intelligence from Wikimapia, an open source mapping project that details the location of Russian military infrastructure. One of the interviewees said that they were willing to die fighting the Russian state, rather than be subjected to torture in a Russian prison.

In January 2023, BOAK claimed responsibility for an explosion that damaged a section of the Trans-Siberian Railway in Krasnoyarsk.

On 19 April 2023, Dmitry Petrov, one of the organisation's founders, was killed in the battle of Bakhmut while fighting for the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces.

On 24 June 2023, the Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists issued a communique in reaction to the Wagner Group rebellion, stating that: "neither the Putin regime nor Prigozhin are our friends. In this fight between two cannibals, anarchists should stay away—let them bleed each other as much as possible. That way, they won't be able to disturb people in the future." Calling upon the Russian people to "spend this time preparing for an armed uprising."

See also

• Anarchism in Belarus
• Anarchism in Russia
• Anti-War Committee of Russia
• Feminist Anti-War Resistance
• National Republican Army (Russia)
• Network (Russia)
• Stop the Wagons

References

1. "In Memory of Dmitry Petrov". CrimethInc. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
2. "Рельсовая война в рф. Кто такие анархо-коммунисты, и как они воюют против путинизма (ВИДЕО) | Inshe.tv". inshe.tv (in Ukrainian). 6 July 2022. Archived from the original on 9 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
3. ^ "Ongoing Sabotage and Resistance to War in Russia and Ukraine: Interview with BOAK/Anarchist Communist Combat Organization | libcom.org". libcom.org. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
4. Zemlyanskaya, Alisa (5 July 2022). "Этот поезд в огне: как российские партизаны поджигают военкоматы и пускают поезда под откос". The Insider (in Russian). Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
5. "Боевая Организация Анархо-Коммунистов | Page 4". Archived from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
6. "Боец Анархист". Telegram. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
7. ""Инструкции из даркнета". Как анархо-коммунисты совершают диверсии в РФ и что это за люди". nv.ua (in Russian). Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
8. ""Боевая организация анархо-коммунистов" объявила в России рельсовая войну – СМИ". Telegraf.news (in Russian). 5 July 2022. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
9. ^ McDonald, Karl (5 August 2022). "How Russia's anarchist saboteurs are destroying Putin's war machine from within". inews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
10. "Arson attack on a cell tower in Belomestnoye (Belgorod Oblast) | Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists". Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
11. "Sabotage of railway tracks leading to the 12th Chief Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of RF | Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists". Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
12. "Sabotage action on the railway of military unit 55443 VD Barsovo (51th Arsenal of the Main rocket-artillery department of Russian Defense ministry) | Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists". Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
13. "Mobilizing against mobilization – the first crack in the Kremlin regime? Part 15". LibCom. 16 October 2022. Archived from the original on 12 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
14. Chapple, Amos (3 January 2023). "'It's Not His Country, It's Ours': The Russian 'Partisans' At War with the Kremlin". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
15. Vorobyov, Niko (25 January 2023). "Russian saboteurs seek to hamper Putin's war machine". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
16. Veniamin Volin (20 May 2023). "Ultra left-wing Russian activist who fought on the side of Ukraine killed in Bakhmut. His friend recalls how he ended up in Ukraine and what he fought for". Novaya Gazeta Europe. Archived from the original on 17 June 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
17. "In Memory of Dmitry Petrov : An Incomplete Biography and Translation of His Work". CrimethInc. 3 May 2023. Archived from the original on 17 June 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
18. Anna Pavlova (7 July 2023). "Nine lives of an anarchist. The story of Dmitry Petrov, an activist from Russia who fought for Ukraine and died in the battle of Bakhmut". Mediazona. Archived from the original on 18 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
19. "Russian Anarchists on the Wagner Mutiny". CrimethInc. 24 June 2023. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.

External links

• BOAK in English
• BOAK blog
• Telegram channel "Anarchist Fighter"

v t e Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia
Protests	2004–2005 Benefits monetization protests Dissenters' March 2011–2013 protests Bolotnaya Square case 2014 anti-war protests 2017–2018 protests Termless protest 2018 pension protests 2018–2019 Ingushetia protests 2019 Moscow protests 2020–2021 Khabarovsk Krai protests 2021 protests 2021 election protests 2022 anti-war protests North Caucasian protests Far East protests 2024 Bashkortostan protests Noon Against Putin
Unrest	2010 Moscow riots 2013 Biryulyovo riots Belarusian and Russian partisan movement 2022–2023 military commissariats attacks 2022–2023 rail war
Annual	Strategy-31 Russian marches Anti-capitalism
Coalitions	Committee 2008 The Other Russia Solidarnost Opposition Coordination Council Anti-Corruption Foundation Navalny Headquarters Free Russia Forum Anti-War Committee of Russia True Russia Free Nations of Post-Russia Forum Russian Action Committee Congress of People's Deputies A Just World
Organizations	Liberal Democratic Union DOXA Magazine Meduza Memorial Moscow Helsinki Group Yabloko Open Russia Oborona United Civil Front Russian People's Democratic Union Our Choice For Russia without Lawlessness and Corruption Democratic Choice 5th of December Party Pussy Riot IC3PEAK People's Freedom Party Vesna Western Choice Russia of the Future Novaya Gazeta Libertarian Party of Russia Feminist Anti-War Resistance Left-wing Confederation of Revolutionary Anarcho-Syndicalists Federation of Socialist Youth Labour Russia Left Front Left Socialist Action Party of Communists-Internationalists Vanguard of Red Youth Socialist Resistance Revolutionary Workers' Party Russian Maoist Party Russian Social Democratic Union of Youth Russian Communist Workers' Party of the CPSU Autonomous Action Socialist League Vpered Pyotr Alexeyev' Resistance Movement Russian Labour Front Russian Socialist Movement Socialist Alternative People's Self-Defense Left Bloc For a New Socialism Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists Nationalist Slavic Union Male State Movement Against Illegal Immigration National Russian Liberation Movement National Socialist Society Format18 Decommunization Club of Angry Patriots Nation and Freedom Committee Northern Brotherhood People's Militia of Kvachkov National Democratic Alliance Russians Popular Resistance Association Ethnic National Union Society.Future National Socialism / White Power Indigenous Adat People's Movement Committee of Bashkir Resistance Free Buryatia Foundation Ingush Independence Committee Karelian National Movement Oirat-Kalmyk People's Congress Free Idel-Ural Ittifaq Party Other National Bolshevik Party National Bolshevik Front The Other Russia of E. V. Limonov Freedom Nation People's Will Army Society of Blue Buckets Union of Slavic Forces of Russia Artpodgotovka Party of the Dead Stop the Wagons National Republican Army Freedom of Russia Legion Russian Volunteer Corps Russian Insurgent Army
People	Liberal Liya Akhedzhakova Boris Akunin Yevgenia Albats Georgy Alburov Nikolay Alexeyev Lyudmila Alexeyeva Maria Alyokhina Vladimir Ashurkov Darya Besedina Konstantin Borovoi Anastasia Bryukhanova Dmitry Bykov Lilia Chanysheva Evgeny Chichvarkin Yevgeniya Chirikova Roman Dobrokhotov Yury Dud Yekaterina Duntsova Tikhon Dzyadko Tamara Eidelman Mark Feygin Yulia Galyamina Masha Gessen Dmitry Glukhovsky Alexei Gorinov Dmitry Gudkov Gennady Gudkov Sergei Guriev Leonid Gozman Vladimir Kara-Murza Garry Kasparov Mikhail Kasyanov Maxim Katz Irina Khakamada Mikhail Khodorkovsky Alexander Kobrinsky Oleg Kuvaev Bogdan Litvin Marina Litvinovich Tair Mamedov Andrey Makarevich Vladimir Milov Sergey Mitrokhin Dmitry Muratov Boris Nadezhdin Lyudmila Narusova Alexei Navalny 2013 mayoral campaign 2018 presidential campaign poisoning death Yulia Navalnaya Boris Nemtsov assassination Alexander Nevzorov Valeriya Novodvorskaya Marina Ovsyannikova Sergey Parkhomenko Leonid Parfyonov Maria Pevchikh Andrey Piontkovsky Andrei Pivovarov Anna Politkovskaya assassination Ilya Ponomarev Lev Ponomaryov Mikhail Prokhorov Maxim Reznik Yevgeny Roizman Vladimir Ryzhkov Marina Salye Yekaterina Samutsevich Kirill Serebrennikov Ekaterina Schulmann Karèn Shainyan Ruslan Shaveddinov Viktor Shenderovich Lev Shlosberg Yuri Shevchuk Natalya Sindeyeva Aleksandra Skochilenko Lyubov Sobol Nikolai Svanidze Dmitry Syenduk Nadya Tolokonnikova Ilya Varlamov Alexei Venediktov Pyotr Verzilov Boris Vishnevskiy Leonid Volkov Kira Yarmysh Ilya Yashin Grigory Yavlinsky Ivan Zhdanov Mikhail Zygar Left-wing Viktor Anpilov Anastasia Baburova Alexander Batov Sergey Biets Nikolai Bondarenko Yuri Bykov Alexey Gaskarov Mikhail Gorbachev Boris Kagarlitsky Nikolay Kavkazsky Pavel Kudyukin Sergey Levchenko Mikhail Lobanov Stanislav Markelov Darya Mitina Nikolay Platoshkin Valery Rashkin Leonid Razvozzhayev Vladislav Ryazantsev Oleg Shenin Alexander Shubin Yevgeny Stupin Konstantin Syomin Sergei Udaltsov Anastasia Udaltsova Kirill Ukraintsev Nationalist Aleksandr Averin Vladimir Basmanov Alexander Belov-Potkin Dmitry Demushkin Andrei Dmitriev Dmitry Enteo Sergei Furgal Igor Girkin Oleg Kashin Denis Kapustin Vladimir Kvachkov Ilya Konstantinov Daniil Konstantinov Ilya Lazarenko Eduard Limonov Vyacheslav Maltsev Maxim Martsinkevich Maria Motuznaya Yury Mukhin Yevgeni Ponasenkov Vladislav Pozdnyakov Egor Prosvirnin Valery Solovei Mikhail Svetov Vladimir Tor Roman Yuneman
Films and books	Blowing Up Russia (2002) Putin's Russia (2004) The Revolution That Wasn't (2008) 12 Who Don't Agree (2009) Putin. Corruption (2011) Term (2014) Putin. War (2014) Chaika (2015) He Is Not Dimon to You (2017) Putin's Palace (2021) Navalny (2022)
Terms	Grandpa in his bunker Non-system opposition Party of crooks and thieves Putler Putin khuylo! Putin Must Go Russia will be free Smart Voting White-blue-white flag Zelyonka attack
Related	Alexander Gabyshev Masha Moskalyova case Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal Russian emigration following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine

v t e Russian political movements and non-registered parties
Active	Non-registered parties Adyghe Hase All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1992) Communist Party of the Soviet Union (2001) Democratic Choice Great Russia Party The Other Russia of E. V. Limonov Eurasia Party For the Family Pirate Party of Russia Popular Resistance Association Libertarian Party of Russia Nijsxo Party of Communists-Internationalists Revolutionary Workers' Party Russia of the Future Russian Communist Workers' Party of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Russian Maoist Party Russian National Unity Russian United Labour Front Left Socialist Action Socialist Alternative United Communist Party 5th of December Party Political movements All-Russia People's Front A Just World Autonomous Action Anti-Maidan Anti-War Committee of Russia Citizens of the USSR Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists Congress of Russian Communities Confederation of Revolutionary Anarcho-Syndicalists Decommunization Essence of Time Eurasia Movement Feminist Anti-War Resistance For a New Socialism Free Nations of Russia Forum Free Russia Forum Labour Russia Left Bloc Left Front Narodny Sobor National Patriotic Forces of Russia People's Self-Defense Russian Action Committee SERB Society.Future Solidarnost Sorok Sorokov Stop the Wagons True Russia United Civil Front Vanguard of Red Youth Youth movements Leninist Komsomol of Russia Eurasian Youth Union Vesna Mestnye Movement of the First ONF Youth Young Army Young Guard of United Russia Youth Yabloko
Inactive	Imperial period Bread and Freedom Black Hundreds Decembrists Union of Salvation Union of Prosperity Southern Society & Northern Society Narodniks Land and Liberty People's Will Union of the Russian People Soviet period Bloc of Soviet Oppositions Komsomol Committee of Youth Organisations Young Pioneers Little Octobrists National Alliance of Russian Solidarists NCPSU Russian Fascist Party Russian People's Labour Party Soviet Revolutionary Communists (Bolsheviks) VSKhSON Modern period All-National Congress of the Chechen People Artpodgotovka Committee 2008 Conceptual Party "Unity" Congress of the Ingush People Çon çobį Democratic Union Ethnic National Union Federation of Socialist Youth Freedom Nation For Russia without Lawlessness and Corruption Navalny Headquarters Marxist Tendency Movement Against Illegal Immigration Nashi (1990s) Nashi (2000s) National Bolshevik Front National Bolshevik Party National Russian Liberation Movement Nation and Freedom Committee National Democratic Alliance National Socialist Russian Workers' Party Oborona Open Russia Our Choice Oprichny Dvor Pamyat Society People's Militia named after Minin and Pozharsky People's Patriotic Union of Russia Pyotr Alexeyev' Resistance Movement Russians Russian All-National Union Russian National Unity (2000) Russian Opposition Coordination Council Russian People's Democratic Union Russian Social Democratic Union of Youth Russian Socialist Movement Slavic Union Socialist Resistance Socialist League Vpered Society of Blue Buckets StopXam The Other Russia TIGR Union of the Russian People Walking Together Young Russia
Portal:Politics List of political parties Politics of Russia Registered political parties in Russia

• 2020 establishments in Russia
• Belarusian and Russian partisan movement (2022–present)
• Anarchism in Belarus
• Anarchist militant groups
• Anarchist organizations in Russia
• Anarcho-communism
• Anti-fascist organizations
• Anti-imperialism in Europe
• Anti-imperialist organizations
• Communist militant groups
• Communist organizations in Russia
• Insurgent groups in Europe
• Insurrectionary anarchism
• Left-wing militant groups in Russia
• Military units and formations established in 2018
• Opposition to Vladimir Putin
• Pro-Ukraine foreign volunteer units in the Russian invasion of Ukraine