Mikhail Oreshnikov

A leader of the movement for the independence of Chuvashia. In the late 2000s, he became involved with far-right groups. In May 2009, Oreshnikov and a friend were detained for attempting to set fire to a police station. This action was reportedly in response to the death of Maxim Bazylev, the leader of the National Socialist Society, in a Moscow detention center. Oreshnikov was sentenced to one and a half years in a general regime penal colony for attempted destruction of property and hooliganism motivated by political hatred.

After his release, he joined the far-right Restrukt movement and organised "Russian Marches." On 1 May 2014, Oreshnikov planned to hold a rally in support of Ukraine but was detained near his home and taken to the police station. He claimed to have been beaten while in custody. Following this incident, a case of violence against a representative of the authorities was initiated against him. He was later detained at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport but was released on his own recognisance.

Oreshnikov eventually left Russia for Ukraine, seeking political asylum. In November 2020, he was detained at an airport in Jakarta, and the Russian Federation sought his extradition.

On 17 May 2023, police visited Oreshnikov's relatives in Cheboksary to conduct a search. By September, he was taken into custody in absentia. It was revealed that he faced charges of incitement to hatred with the threat of violence in three separate incidents, as well as charges related to calls for extremism.

On 28 August 2025, a court sentenced Oreshnikov in absentia to seven and a half years in a general regime penal colony for incitement to hatred and calls to extremism.