Karelian National Liberation Movement

The movement was founded in 2012 under the name Stop the Occupation of Karelia.[4] In 2014 a website under the same name was created that advocated for the full independence of Karelia. The website was banned by Roskomnadzor in 2015.[3] In 2016 Dmitry Kuznetsov gained political asylum in Spain after being prosecuted in Russia for separatism. At the point of prosecution, he had already been living in Spain for more than 2 years.[6] The leader of the Karelian Republican Movement, Vadim Shtepa, refused to cooperate with the KNM, citing their ethnocentrism as the reason. He also stated that the Karelian National Movement has no future due to their extreme nationalism and complete misunderstanding of the current situation in the Republic of Karelia.[2]

On June 6, 2023, the Karelian National Movement was registered in Tartu, Estonia as a non-profit organization.[1]

On July 20, 2023, the Karelian National Movement was dissolved after an internal conflict within the organization, but the Stop the Occupation of Karelia movement kept the old name.[7]

The movement became active again after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and changed its name to the current one.[4] It gained new members, many of whom were parts of far-right movements, as Vladislav Oleynik, the administrator of a far-right online group called "Væringjavegr ᛝ Fennoscandia".[8] He became the head of international relations of the organization.[2]

The movement also became part of the Free Nations of Post-Russia Forum.[9] The KKL was in a conflict with the Finnish Karjalan Liitto organization, which represents Karelian evacuees in Finland, due to their refusal to cooperate with the KKL to "return” Karelia.[2] The movement tried to establish contacts with Karelian organizations in the Republic of Karelia.[4]

The KKL considers the Pomors one of the most related peoples, therefore they work closely with the organization "Pomoṙska Slobóda" (pomor. Помо́рьска Слобо́да), which advocates the independence of Pomorie.[10]

On May 9, 2023, the KKL became one of the founding members of the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples, which advocates for implementation of "full sovereignty" for the native peoples of Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union.[11]

Fighters of the Karelian National Battalion

In January 2023 the Karelian National Movement organized a volunteer battalion that became a part of the International Legion of Territorial Defence of Ukraine.[12]

Due to ideological differences on the position of the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Free Russia Legion in the Belgorod Incursions, on June 7, 2023, the Karelian National Movement announced the cessation of communication between itself and the remaining members of the Karelian National Battalion. They stated many things, amongst it being the potential creation of a new volunteer unit for "those who are ready to liberate Karelia", and also stated that "recruitment this time will only be when volunteers can immediately join the ranks of the unit". Furthermore, they stated that the position of the participants in the Belgorod Incursion, was "not appealing to us indigenous peoples of Karelia" and further remarked that "We fight for freedom of our peoples, not for the Russians".[13]