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For Truth

For Truth (Russian: За правду; Za pravdu) was a short-lived national-conservative political party in Russia founded in 2020 by author Zakhar Prilepin, a former combatant in the Chechen wars known for his nationalist writings and public advocacy.^[1]^[2] The party originated from a public movement Prilepin initiated in late 2019 to promote patriotic and traditionalist principles amid perceived liberal influences in Russian society.^[1]^[3] Formally launched on February 1, 2020, it positioned itself as a voice for national sovereignty, cultural preservation, and opposition to Western-style liberalism, attracting support from veterans, intellectuals, and regional activists.^[4]^[3] Despite its ideological emphasis on truth-seeking governance and anti-corruption measures rooted in first-hand national experiences, For Truth did not contest major elections independently and merged on January 28, 2021, with A Just Russia and Patriots of Russia to form the expanded Socialist Political Party A Just Russia – Patriots – For Truth, enhancing its influence within Russia's parliamentary framework.^[2]^[5] Critics, particularly from outlets skeptical of Kremlin-aligned structures, labeled it a potential vote-splitter for genuine opposition, though Prilepin's longstanding nationalist credentials suggest organic grassroots appeal.^[4]^[1]

History

Origins and Founding (2019–2020)

The nationalist public movement "For Truth" (За правду) was initiated by writer and publicist Zakhar Prilepin on October 29, 2019, drawing from his prior involvement in patriotic circles and opposition to liberal ideologies perceived as undermining Russian sovereignty.^[1] On November 30, 2019, Prilepin publicly confirmed intentions to convert the movement into a full political party to enable participation in the 2020 regional and 2021 federal elections, framing it as a necessary bulwark against "Maidan"-style unrest and Western-influenced decay in Russian society.^[6]^[7] The party's formal establishment took place at its founding congress on February 1, 2020, held at Moscow's Central Telegraph building, where approximately 500 delegates from across Russia unanimously approved the transformation, elected Prilepin as chairman, and adopted a platform centered on national-patriotic principles.^[8]^[9] This rapid organizational shift complied with Russian electoral laws requiring a minimum of 500 members and regional representation for party registration, which "For Truth" achieved swiftly through its pre-existing movement network, enabling submission of founding documents to the Ministry of Justice shortly thereafter.^[10] Positioned explicitly as a truth-oriented nationalist alternative, the party's initial manifesto emphasized combating liberal cosmopolitanism, reinforcing social conservatism, and prioritizing empirical defenses of Russian cultural and territorial integrity over ideological abstractions, reflecting Prilepin's firsthand experiences in Donbas conflicts as a motivator for mobilization against perceived internal threats.^[11]^[12]

Early Activities and Organizational Development

Following its founding congress on February 1, 2020, the For Truth party focused on rapid organizational expansion across Russia, building on the preexisting "For Truth" movement established in October 2019.^[13]^[8] Prilepin, as leader, prioritized recruiting prominent cultural and public figures to bolster visibility and membership, including actor Ivan Okhlobystin, musician Zhenya Chicherina, and American actor Steven Seagal, who aligned with the party's nationalist orientation.^[14] These efforts aimed to establish regional branches in multiple oblasts, with initial activities centered on forming executive committees and gathering signatures for official registration, achieving federal party status by mid-2020.^[13] In preparation for the September 2020 regional elections, For Truth conducted targeted campaigns highlighting patriotic themes, such as Russia's imperial heritage and national sovereignty, encapsulated in slogans like "Russia was, is, and will be an empire."^[4] The party nominated candidates in several regions, including the Komi Republic and Novosibirsk Oblast, emphasizing internal party dynamics through Prilepin's personal platform as a writer and public intellectual to secure limited media exposure via interviews and writings.^[15]^[16] Organizational alliances were pursued with pro-Kremlin entities, such as the movement Patriots of the Great Fatherland led by Nikolai Starikov, culminating in a November 30, 2020, announcement of cooperation to enhance coordination without formal merger at that stage.^[17] For Truth also engaged in broader policy influence through Prilepin's role in the central headquarters of the All-Russia People's Front, contributing to initiatives for public input on national priorities like social justice and defense. This participation allowed the party to align with Kremlin-supported forums while maintaining a distinct nationalist voice, though its overall media footprint remained constrained compared to established parties.^[4]

Merger and Dissolution (2021)

On January 28, 2021, For Truth participated in a joint congress with A Just Russia and Patriots of Russia, where delegates approved a merger agreement to form a unified party provisionally named A Just Russia – Patriots – For Truth, underpinned by a shared platform of 12 principles emphasizing truth, patriotism, and social justice.^[18] The initiative sought to amalgamate fragmented left-patriotic elements, including For Truth's nationalist orientation led by writer Zakhar Prilepin, to create a broader electoral base capable of challenging the entrenched dominance of United Russia in the upcoming State Duma elections scheduled for September 2021.^[19] Prilepin, as co-founder of For Truth, articulated the strategic intent to position the merged entity as a runner-up to United Russia, leveraging combined organizational resources to counter both ruling-party hegemony and rival opposition factions like the Communist Party.^[19] ^[20] The causal drivers reflected pragmatic electoral calculus in Russia's multiparty system, where smaller parties often face barriers to independent viability due to signature requirements, funding constraints, and media access disparities favoring established players.^[21] By pooling membership—For Truth having registered nationally in 2020 after regional gains—and ideological synergies, the parties aimed to exceed the 5% threshold for proportional representation more reliably than individually, thereby amplifying influence in Duma seat allocation without direct confrontation of systemic constraints.^[22] Formal completion occurred on February 22, 2021, when the constituent parties' congress ratified the unification, entailing the legal dissolution of For Truth and Patriots of Russia as independent entities, with their structures and assets absorbed into the rebranded A Just Russia.^[23] This step-by-step integration, from preliminary accord to dissolution, underscored a calculated realism: empirical data from prior cycles showed fragmented patriotic votes diluting against United Russia's 40-50% hauls, while consolidation could yield amplified bargaining leverage in post-election coalition dynamics and policy concessions.^[23] TASS reporting highlighted the merger's role in fortifying the bloc's negotiating position within the managed opposition framework, evidenced by the subsequent party's retention of Duma seats despite overall low opposition turnout.^[23]

Ideology and Positions

Core Principles

The For Truth party articulated its foundational tenets around the imperatives of truth, patriotism, and justice, positioning these as antidotes to ideological distortions and external pressures undermining Russian sovereignty. Truth-seeking was framed as an unwavering commitment to factual disclosure in governance, rejecting narratives that obscure national causal realities in favor of empirically grounded assessments of historical and cultural imperatives. This approach prioritized Russia's distinct interests over abstract universalist doctrines, advocating policies derived from first-principles analysis of the nation's geopolitical and societal dynamics rather than imported ideological frameworks.^[24] Patriotism served as the ideological core, defined as resolute defense of the state's independence and citizens' welfare against comprador elites and foreign dependencies, with explicit opposition to liberal policies perceived as eroding traditional structures. The party emphasized causal realism by linking Russia's resilience to the preservation of its Orthodox-rooted moral fabric, viewing Western cultural exports as agents of decadence that weaken communal bonds and demographic stability. Social conservatism underpinned this, with calls for state reinforcement of family units, equitable resource distribution, and anti-corruption measures to foster moral revival and intergenerational continuity.^[24]^[18] These principles manifested in a manifesto signed by For Truth leaders on January 28, 2021, which outlined commitments to progressive taxation, nationalization of strategic assets, and traditional education systems as mechanisms for shielding Russian identity from globalist influences. By integrating socialist equity with nationalist fervor, the tenets rejected profit-driven cosmopolitanism—"comprador capital, knowing no homeland and valuing only superprofits"—in favor of unified action to restore societal justice and spiritual vigor.^[24]^[18]

Domestic Policy Stances

The For Truth party articulated domestic policies rooted in national-patriotic conservatism and left-leaning economic priorities, emphasizing workers' rights and social equity to counter Russia's entrenched socioeconomic disparities. The party's platform highlighted the "person of labor" as central to national revival, advocating state measures to protect employment and redistribute resources amid high income inequality, where the Gini coefficient reached 37.5 in 2020 according to World Bank data. This center-left orientation supported targeted welfare expansions, such as enhanced benefits for vulnerable groups, without endorsing wholesale nationalization, positioning the approach as a bulwark against the excesses of 1990s privatizations that concentrated wealth among a narrow elite controlling key industries.^[25] Critiquing oligarchic liberalism for prioritizing elite interests over public welfare, For Truth called for curbing undue corporate influence in policy-making, drawing on evidence of Russia's uneven post-Soviet recovery where poverty rates hovered around 12.1% in 2020 per official statistics. The party proposed fostering domestic innovation and infrastructure investment under state oversight to drive sustainable growth, aiming to elevate small and medium enterprises while subordinating economic goals to social stability and reduce dependency on raw material exports that comprised over 60% of federal revenues in recent years. On social issues, the party opposed the infiltration of Western liberal ideologies, favoring policies that uphold traditional Russian values, family structures, and cultural sovereignty to address demographic stagnation, including a total fertility rate of 1.50 births per woman in 2020. For Truth advocated strengthening national identity through support for large families and community self-governance via local referendums and electronic voting, rejecting progressive agendas like expansive gender doctrines in favor of pragmatic conservatism grounded in empirical family policy outcomes. It critiqued unchecked immigration, which saw over 5 million labor migrants from Central Asia annually straining social services and ethnic cohesion, proposing stricter controls to prioritize ethnic Russians and integrate newcomers under patriotic frameworks.

Foreign Policy and Nationalism

The For Truth party espoused a form of Russian nationalism centered on the protection of ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking populations in neighboring states, viewing their vulnerability as a direct threat to Russia's national security and historical integrity. Party co-chairman Zakhar Prilepin, a veteran of conflicts in eastern Ukraine, argued that Western-backed integrations of Ukraine and Georgia into NATO and the European Union posed existential risks by isolating and endangering Russian compatriots, citing documented instances of discrimination and violence against Russian speakers in Donbas as empirical evidence of such threats.^[26]^[27] This stance drew on Soviet-era legacies of integrated territories and populations, positing that fragmentation post-1991 had left ethnic enclaves exposed to revanchist policies in successor states, necessitating defensive measures to restore protective unity.^[28] In July 2020, the party formally advocated for referendums on accession to Russia for the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (Donbas), Abkhazia, and South Ossetia, framing these as mechanisms to safeguard ethnic Russians from alleged genocidal pressures and to counter NATO's eastward expansion, which it claimed empirically encircled Russia and undermined its sovereignty through military basing in former Soviet spheres.^[26]^[27] Prilepin emphasized that such integrations would grant these regions subject status within the Russian Federation, prioritizing national sovereignty over international norms that the party viewed as biased toward Western interests, with historical precedents in the Soviet Union's defense of fraternal republics against external aggression.^[28] The positions reflected a causal understanding that unaddressed ethnic kin vulnerabilities could precipitate broader conflicts, as evidenced by the 2008 Russo-Georgian War and the 2014 Ukrainian crisis, where Russian interventions were justified as preemptive protections rather than unprovoked expansions.^[29] The party's foreign policy rejected multilateral frameworks like NATO partnerships for post-Soviet states, arguing that empirical data on alliance dynamics—such as NATO's 1999 Kosovo intervention bypassing Russian objections—demonstrated an inherent anti-Russian bias that threatened border stability.^[30] Instead, it promoted a sovereign-centric approach, urging strengthened ties with non-Western powers to balance perceived encirclement, while insisting that Russia's defensive posture was rooted in realist assessments of power vacuums left by Soviet dissolution, where ethnic Russian majorities in disputed territories faced assimilation or expulsion risks without Moscow's guardianship.^[27] This nationalism was not irredentist in isolation but tied to a broader causal narrative of preserving civilizational continuity against liberal internationalist erosion of historical borders.^[28]

Leadership and Organization

Founders and Primary Leadership

Zakhar Prilepin, a Russian writer born in 1975, gained prominence through novels depicting the socio-political upheavals of post-Soviet Russia, informed by his service as a riot police officer in the OMON unit during the First and Second Chechen Wars.^[3] His military background extended to the Donbas conflict, where from 2015 he commanded a battalion of pro-Russian separatist forces, claiming in interviews that his unit inflicted significant casualties on Ukrainian positions.^[31]^[32] Prilepin founded the For Truth party in October 2019, evolving it from his earlier civic movement launched around 2018 to advocate for conservative nationalism and resistance to liberal ideologies perceived as undermining Russian sovereignty.^[1]^[33] As the party's inaugural leader, he directed its strategic orientation toward attracting patriotic voters disillusioned with mainstream parties, emphasizing anti-Western stances and support for military interventions in Ukraine through public rallies and media appearances.^[4] The organization's leadership was predominantly personalized under Prilepin, who utilized his networks from literary circles, veteran groups, and online platforms to coordinate operations, bypassing extensive formal hierarchies in favor of direct appeals to supporters aligned with his worldview.^[34] This approach enabled rapid mobilization for early activities but constrained broader institutional development prior to the party's 2021 merger.^[35]

Notable Members and Affiliates

Alexander Kazakov, a political analyst and former advisor to the Donetsk People's Republic leadership, served as first deputy chairman of For Truth, utilizing his media appearances to promote the party's stances on territorial integrity and support for Russian-speaking regions in Ukraine, thereby increasing its visibility among nationalist audiences.^[36]^[37] The party drew affiliates from Russia's cultural sector, including musician Vadim Samoilov, theater director Eduard Boyakov, and film director Vladislav Bevza, whose participation in the initial public announcement on October 29, 2019, helped extend the party's reach into artistic communities sympathetic to conservative and patriotic themes.^[38] Steven Seagal, the U.S.-born actor who received Russian citizenship on November 5, 2016, joined For Truth as a member before its merger into A Just Russia – Patriots – For Truth on February 22, 2021, lending international celebrity endorsement that amplified the party's profile through his vocal support for Russian foreign policy positions.^[39]^[40] These affiliations underscored For Truth's connections to pro-Kremlin nationalists and intellectuals, fostering greater media exposure despite the party's short lifespan.^[41]

Electoral Engagement

Participation in Regional Elections

The For Truth party contested the September 13, 2020, unified regional elections in 11 oblasts, participating in votes for legislative assemblies as one of four newly registered parties permitted to run.^[42] These elections served as the party's primary empirical assessment of voter support prior to national contests, with participation focused on proportional representation lists and select single-mandate districts.^[43] In Ryazan Oblast, For Truth received 7.84% of the proportional vote share after processing over 50% of protocols, crossing the 5% threshold required for allocation of seats from party lists.^[44] This performance yielded two seats in the 40-member Ryazan Oblast Duma, reflecting localized administrative allowances that boosted visibility in that region compared to others. In the remaining regions, the party garnered under 5% of votes, failing to secure proportional representation and highlighting limited broader appeal.^[45] Campaign strategies emphasized regional patriotism, drawing on the party's nationalist platform to appeal to voters disillusioned with federal dominance, alongside pledges to combat local corruption through stricter oversight of regional officials and resources.) These efforts aligned with founder Zakhar Prilepin's emphasis on grassroots mobilization against perceived elite mismanagement, though turnout and opposition dynamics constrained overall gains.^[42]

Preparations for National Elections

In October 2020, the For Truth party announced its intention to contest the 2021 State Duma elections independently, with co-chairman Zakhar Prilepin slated to lead the party list.^[46] This preparation included building a national-patriotic platform emphasizing sovereignty, military support in Donbas, and opposition to liberal influences, aiming to attract voters disillusioned with established parties beyond United Russia.) The party's strategy focused on regional organizational efforts and candidate recruitment to secure the 3% threshold for parliamentary representation, positioning itself as a fresh voice in the patriotic spectrum.^[47] However, recognizing the challenges of fragmented opposition in Russia's electoral system—where smaller parties often struggle against dominant forces—the leadership opted to abort the standalone campaign. In January 2021, For Truth merged with A Just Russia and Patriots of Russia, dissolving its independent structure to form a unified left-patriotic bloc under the name A Just Russia – For Truth.^[22] This consolidation was driven by the need for a broader electoral base and resource pooling, enabling a single slate to challenge for greater influence in the Duma.^[19] The merged entity explicitly targeted second place behind United Russia, as stated by coalition leaders at their February 2021 congress, leveraging combined ideological alignment on social conservatism, statism, and anti-Western nationalism to consolidate patriotic votes that might otherwise split among minor parties.^[48] This strategic pivot causal to the merger reflected pragmatic adaptation to electoral realities, prioritizing viability over autonomy in pursuit of a stronger parliamentary foothold.^[21]

Reception and Controversies

Domestic Support and Achievements

The For Truth party attracted backing primarily from patriotic and nationalist demographics in Russia, including supporters of Russian involvement in the Donbass conflict, leveraging founder Zakhar Prilepin's background as a writer and combatant in the region.^[21]^[3] In the September 2020 regional and municipal elections, For Truth secured seats in several regional councils, meeting the necessary thresholds to qualify as a participant in the 2021 State Duma elections and demonstrating concrete electoral viability despite limited mainstream media coverage of its gains.^[49]^[50] The party's emphasis on national-conservative principles amplified anti-liberal discourse in Russian politics, challenging progressive influences and advocating for traditional values and strong state sovereignty.^[1] Upon merging with A Just Russia and Patriots of Russia in January 2021 to form A Just Russia – For Truth, the original party's platform significantly influenced the resulting entity's more assertive nationalist stance, integrating pro-Donbass patriotism and opposition to Western liberalism into its core positions.^[21]^[51]

Criticisms and Opposition Views

Liberal opponents in Russia, including figures aligned with anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny's organizations, have accused For Truth of fostering militarism and aggressive expansionism, pointing to founder Zakhar Prilepin's direct participation in combat operations in the Donbas region starting in 2015, where he commanded a pro-separatist battalion and publicly boasted of enemy casualties.^[31]^[52] These critics argue that Prilepin's advocacy for annexing eastern Ukrainian territories and breakaway Georgian regions promotes irredentist policies that escalate regional conflicts, framing the party as an enabler of Russia's military adventurism rather than a legitimate political voice. Such views portray For Truth not as independent opposition but as amplifying state-aligned hawkishness, though Prilepin's initial volunteer deployment to Donbas predated intensified Kremlin involvement, evidencing personal nationalist initiative independent of central directives.^[31] Among nationalists, internal critiques have centered on For Truth's perceived lack of radicalism, with some ultrapatriotic commentators dismissing its platform as insufficiently confrontational toward perceived internal threats like liberal influences or insufficient emphasis on cultural purification.^[53] Prilepin's self-description of the party as "left-nationalist" drew skepticism from purist factions, who viewed the ideological blend as a political oxymoron diluting core conservative tenets.^[54] The 2021 merger with A Just Russia and Patriots of Russia to form a larger bloc elicited mixed reactions within nationalist circles: proponents saw it as a pragmatic tactical compromise enabling parliamentary access and amplification of voices like Prilepin's, as the combined entity secured approximately 7.5% of the vote in Duma elections.^[55] Critics, however, contended it subordinated independent nationalism to systemic opposition dynamics, potentially compromising ideological purity by aligning with established parties accused of being Kremlin-managed, thus limiting radical policy pushes.^[56] This tension underscores For Truth's navigation of Russia's constrained political space, where merger facilitated electoral viability—evidenced by regional gains—but fueled debates over authenticity versus co-optation.^[57]

International Perspectives

International observers and media outlets have afforded scant attention to the For Truth party prior to its merger into A Just Russia in October 2021, reflecting its marginal role in Russia's broader political landscape and limited influence beyond domestic nationalist circles. Coverage in Western sources, when present, typically situated the party within narratives of Kremlin-orchestrated electoral management, depicting it as a nationalist adjunct designed to siphon votes from genuine opposition. For instance, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty characterized its February 2020 launch, led by writer and Donbas veteran Zakhar Prilepin, as emblematic of "spoiler parties" curated to dilute anti-government sentiment ahead of the 2021 elections.^[4] Such portrayals often emphasize alignment with President Vladimir Putin's agenda, as evidenced by the party's recruitment of pro-Kremlin figures like actor Steven Seagal in May 2021, which The Moscow Times framed as bolstering its status among newly registered parties supportive of state policies.^[58] Exiled Russian media like Meduza, operating from a liberal opposition perspective critical of the Kremlin, similarly contextualized For Truth and its successors as extensions of systemic opposition, though direct analyses remained sparse given the party's brevity. This framing aligns with broader institutional biases in Western and opposition journalism, which frequently conflate Russian nationalist platforms with undifferentiated pro-Putin extremism, undervaluing distinctions in policy nuance. In contrast to these characterizations, For Truth advocated a foreign policy rooted in geopolitical realism, prioritizing Russian sovereignty, territorial integrity, and resistance to Western liberal interventions over ideological conformity with Moscow's pragmatism. Prilepin's endorsements of Crimea's 2014 annexation and active involvement in Donbas conflicts exemplified this stance, emphasizing empirical defenses of ethnic Russian populations and strategic buffer zones against NATO expansion rather than liberal multilateralism.^[59] The party's anti-liberal edge manifested in explicit opposition to Western cultural exports, such as advocacy against LGBT rights promotion, positioning it as a bulwark for traditional values amid perceived civilizational clashes.^[60] Occasional divergences from official Kremlin lines further highlighted this independence, as seen in Prilepin's December 2023 proposal for Uzbekistan's accession to Russia—a suggestion rooted in historical ties and security imperatives but promptly disavowed by the Russian Foreign Ministry as personal opinion not reflecting state policy.^[61] Such episodes underscore the party's hawkish realism, which critiqued perceived hesitancy in asserting influence over post-Soviet spaces, though international commentary rarely dissected these subtleties, preferring reductive labels amid anti-Russian sentiment in media ecosystems. Overall, For Truth's international footprint remained negligible, with global discourse overshadowed by Russia's larger geopolitical maneuvers, limiting opportunities for differentiated analysis.

Legacy

Influence on Russian Political Landscape

The formation of For Truth in October 2019 introduced a distinct national-patriotic voice emphasizing state sovereignty, territorial integrity, and opposition to liberal influences, which pressured existing systemic parties to incorporate similar rhetoric to consolidate support among conservative and socialist-leaning voters.) By advocating policies such as the annexation of eastern Ukrainian regions and breakaway Georgian territories, the party highlighted gaps in the mainstream opposition's nationalist credentials, indirectly compelling the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) and A Just Russia to sharpen their anti-Western stances to retain voter loyalty. This dynamic fostered a broader left-national bloc, reducing the appeal of unsanctioned nationalist groups and channeling patriotic sentiment into Kremlin-aligned channels rather than fragmented or adversarial outlets. The January 2021 merger of For Truth with A Just Russia and Patriots of Russia exemplified a strategic consolidation that enhanced the bloc's electoral viability, yielding 7.46% of the proportional vote in the September 2021 State Duma elections and securing 27 seats overall—marginally above A Just Russia's pre-merger 23 seats from 2016.^[62]^[63] This outcome empirically demonstrated the merger's role in stabilizing the non-liberal spectrum, as the bloc collectively garnered over 25% of votes (including CPRF's 18.93%), dwarfing liberal parties like Yabloko (under 1%) and ensuring their exclusion from parliamentary representation.^[55] Critics, including independent observers, have attributed such mergers to administrative orchestration aimed at simulating pluralism while preempting genuine opposition, though the empirical vote distribution underscores a causal reinforcement of pro-state consensus against liberal fragmentation.^[4] Overall, For Truth's brief trajectory accelerated a shift toward social conservatism within systemic opposition, embedding nationalist priorities into legislative debates and diminishing space for pro-market or pro-EU narratives, as evidenced by the merged party's subsequent alignment on key foreign policy votes supporting state interests. This contributed to a more homogenized political landscape where left-national forces serve as a controlled counterbalance to United Russia's dominance, prioritizing empirical alignment with executive priorities over ideological divergence.^[21]

Post-Merger Continuations

Following the merger of For Truth into A Just Russia – For Truth on January 28, 2021, the original party's distinct identity did not revive as a separate entity, with its nationalist platform absorbed into the larger coalition's emphasis on social justice, patriotism, and state sovereignty.^[22] Zakhar Prilepin, the founder of For Truth, assumed a co-chair position in the unified party, maintaining influence over its ideological direction through 2025.^[32] His advocacy for cultural nationalism persisted, including efforts to denounce and marginalize artists critical of Russia's military actions, framing such opposition as a threat to national unity.^[64] Prilepin's role extended to shaping the party's stance on the Ukraine conflict, where he endorsed full incorporation of Ukrainian territory into Russia and actively participated in proxy forces in Donbas since 2014, continuing involvement amid the 2022 invasion.^[65]^[66] This aligned with the party's broader anti-Western orientation, promoting resilience against perceived external pressures through state-centric policies and rejection of liberal international norms.^[29] A May 6, 2023, car bombing that wounded Prilepin and killed his driver—attributed by Russian authorities to Ukrainian operatives—underscored the risks of his public profile but did not diminish his political engagement.^[67]^[68] By 2025, For Truth's legacy manifested in the merged party's reinforcement of sovereignist narratives, contributing to a political discourse prioritizing territorial integrity and cultural preservation over accommodation with Western institutions, without independent organizational revival.^[66] Prilepin's military rank of lieutenant colonel and ongoing propaganda efforts further embedded these continuities, emphasizing endurance against sanctions and hybrid threats.^[69]

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Партия Захара Прилепина предложила провести референдумы ...
Jul 6, 2020 · Кроме того, «За правду» выступила за референдумы о присоединении на правах субъектов РФ Абхазии и Южной Осетии. Учредительный съезд партии «За ...
[27]
Зачем Абхазию и Южную Осетию предложено объединить с ...
Jul 9, 2020 · ПРАГА---Захар Прилепин и его партия «За правду!» предложили провести референдумы в самопровозглашенных ДНР, ЛНР, Приднестровье, ...
[28]
Партия Прилепина призвала включить Донбасс в состав России
«За правду» также предлагает провести референдумы по Южной Осетии и Абхазии. По итогам референдумов им хотят присвоить статус субъектов Российской Федерации ...
[29]
Who is Zakhar Prilepin, target of car bomb in Russia?
May 7, 2023 · Born in 1975 in the Ryazan region, Prilepin was sent to fight in Russia's wars against Chechen separatists in the 1990s.Missing: founding | Show results with:founding
[30]
https://rferl.org/a/russia-prlepin-writer-bombing/32399592.html
[31]
Best-Selling Russian Author Boasts Of 'Killing Many' In Ukraine's ...
Aug 18, 2019 · Best-selling, award-winning Russian author Zakhar Prilepin has said the military unit in which he served in the Donbas conflict of eastern Ukraine “killed many ...Missing: background | Show results with:background
[32]
Who is writer Zakhar Prilepin, target of car bomb in Russia? - Reuters
May 6, 2023 · - Prilepin has been politically active as the co-chair of the "A Just Russia - For Truth" party. Last year he took a prominent role in creating ...
[33]
Rise of the spoiler parties The Putin administration is building ...
Jan 14, 2020 · Zakhar Prilepin, a well-known novelist, also intends to build his own political party on the foundations of the “For Truth” movement. Both ...Missing: activities | Show results with:activities
[34]
Zakhar Prilepin as a Mirror of Russian Propaganda
Sep 22, 2022 · After his death Prilepin came back to Russia. He set up civic movement “For Truth” and political party with the same name. He became a ...Missing: principles | Show results with:principles
[35]
One more pro-war Russian propagandist is targeted in a car bomb ...
May 9, 2023 · In 2021 “For Truth” merged with two other parties and won seats in the State Duma. Prilepin could have served as a deputy but declined the ...
[36]
https://carnegieendowment.org/posts/2021/08/in-the-donbas-russias-newest-citizens-prepare-to-vote
[37]
Putin's Options Dwindle Despite 'Coffin Money' - CEPA
Sep 16, 2022 · Alexander Kazakov, deputy chairman of Russia's For Truth party and a former adviser to Alexander Zakharchenko, the deceased head of the so ...
[38]
Russian Culture as a Casualty (and Accomplice) of Putin's War in ...
Apr 10, 2023 · ... political party called Za Pravdu, For the Truth. And they had a founding congress. I think it might have been held at the theater, but I, on ...
[39]
Hollywood actor Seagal joins pro-Kremlin party, proposes ... - Reuters
May 30, 2021 · Seagal received a party membership card of an alliance named Just Russia - Patriots - For Truth on Saturday, a video relased by the party ...
[40]
Hollywood actor Steven Seagal joins pro-Kremlin party - The Guardian
May 30, 2021 · Seagal received a membership card of an alliance named A Just Russia – Patriots – For Truth on Saturday, a video released by the party showed.
[41]
How Did Steven Seagal Just Join a Russian Pro-Kremlin Political ...
Jun 2, 2021 · Its name is blended from the “A Just Russia” party, the “Patriots of Russia” party and the “For Truth” party, all of which merged at the start ...
[42]
Партия Прилепина "За правду" осенью примет участие в ... - ТАСС
МОСКВА, 19 мая. /ТАСС/. Партия писателя Захара Прилепина "За правду" намерена в 2020 году принять участие во всех 11 выборах региональных заксобраний, ...
[43]
[PDF] РЕГИОНАЛЬНЫЕ ВЫБОРЫ: ПАРТИЙНАЯ ДИНАМИКА
Участие политических партий в выборах в 2012–2020 годах (основные выборы) ... «Гражданская Платформа», КПСС, Партия ЗА ПРАВДУ, Казачья Партия Российской Федерации ...
[44]
В Рязанской области обработали более 50% протоколов на ...
Sep 14, 2020 · По итогам обработки половины протоколов, его также смогли преодолеть партии "За правду" (7,84%), "Справедливая Россия" (6,50%), "Новые люди" (5, ...
[45]
Russia's 2020 elections hotspots A semblance of real political ...
Sep 10, 2020 · On September 9, Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (the FBK) released an investigation uncovering millions of dollars in luxury ...
[46]
За правду (партия) — Википедия
### Summary of "За правду" Party Ideology and Positions
[47]
Прилепин возглавит список партии "За правду" на выборах-2021 ...
Oct 23, 2020 · INTERFAX.RU - Партия "За правду" будет участвовать в выборах в Госдуму в 2021 году, список партии возглавит ее лидер, писатель и активист ...
[48]
How the election law was changed before the 2021 State Duma ...
Jul 15, 2021 · ... For Truth has been dissolved by de facto merging with Just Russia. 6 ... preparations for the Unified Voting Day and State Duma elections ...
[49]
Коалиция "Справедливая Россия - За правду" рассчитывает на ...
Feb 23, 2021 · Партии "Справедливая Россия", "За правду" и "Патриоты России" на общем съезде создали коалицию левых сил. Возглавил ее Сергей Миронов, ...
[50]
Regional poll results will reassure Russian leadership | Expert ...
Three out of the four new parties that ran in these elections -- New People, For Truth and Green Alternative -- won seats on regional councils, a ...<|separator|>
[51]
Non-Parliamentary Parties in Contemporary Russia - Electoral Politics
For comparison's sake, For Truth party that was established around the same time as New People ran in 8 campaigns, but was successful only once. Moreover, in ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[52]
Going jingo: a classification of the wartime positions of Russia's ...
Mar 12, 2024 · In the case of SR, the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the party's absorption of Patriots of Russia and For Truth in 2021, which made former ...
[53]
MinskMonitor: The Rise and Fall of “Prilepin's Battalion” | DFRLab
Nov 7, 2018 · Zakhar Prilepin: Deputy Commander before his exit in July 2018. He arrived to fight in the so-called DNR from his native Russia after the war, ...Missing: militarism criticism
[54]
For Truth - Wikipedia
For Truth (Russian: За правду; Za pravdu) was a national-conservative political party in Russia. It was established in February 2020 by writer Zakhar Prilepin. ...
[55]
The outcry of the ultrapatriots - Riddle Russia
May 17, 2023 · Created with the support of the Kremlin, Zakhar Prilepin's «For Truth party» in 2020 was able to get its list into only one regional parliament ...Missing: insufficient | Show results with:insufficient
[56]
Zakhar Prilepin and the party “For Truth”. Is the year 2024 on the ...
Prilepin created the party “For Truth”, which included celebrities Okhlobystin, Sklyar, Chicherin and even Stephen Seagal.
[57]
Russia's parliamentary elections: the choice without a choice
Sep 20, 2021 · ... Zakhar Prilepin's nationalist party For Truth) got 7.46%, and the New People party also crossed the electoral threshold (5.32%). These data ...
[58]
How the regime carries on the fight against Russian nationalists ...
Mar 25, 2023 · In January 2021, a merger was completed between the degrading A Just Russia party and two spin-doctor projects with a nationalist flavor: the ...Missing: cons | Show results with:cons
[59]
Four Unknowns Ahead of Russia's 2021 Parliamentary Elections
The “inoculation” of the ostensibly social-democratic A Just Russia with the rigid traditionalism and nationalism of Zakhar Prilepin's For Truth can be viewed ...
[60]
Steven Seagal Joins New Pro-Kremlin Party - The Moscow Times
May 31, 2021 · The “For Truth” party is among several political parties established in the past several months in the run-up to the elections to Russia's lower ...
[61]
Prilepin – The database “PUTIN'S LIST”
On October 29, 2019, he created the public movement Za Pravdu (For the ... foreign policy, namely, the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation.
[62]
A partnership based on diplomacy, not sanctions - Foundation for ...
For Truth') has been a full member of the Socialist International since 2012. PES could at least ...<|separator|>
[63]
'Prilepin's opinion does not even remotely reflect official position of ...
Dec 21, 2023 · Russian MFA spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Zakhar Prilepin's words on Uzbekistan's annex to Russia “do not even remotely reflect the official position ...Missing: Za | Show results with:Za<|control11|><|separator|>
[64]
A Just Russia uniting with For Truth, Patriots of Russia parties - Interfax
Jan 20, 2021 · Jan 20 (Interfax) - A Just Russia party leader Sergei Mironov has announced that A Just Russia will soon merge with the For Truth and Patriots ...Missing: controversies | Show results with:controversies
[65]
Russian State Duma Election - Free Russia Foundation THINK TANK
Oct 27, 2021 · ... Prilepin's For Truth. This drove some moderate supporters away (to the New People party in particular). At the same time, the party ...
[66]
Russian nationalist writer Zakhar Prilepin calls for 'cultural purge'
Aug 20, 2022 · Elected MP in 2020, the vice-president of the Just Russia-Patriots-For Truth party first became known for his novels describing the ...
[67]
“We don't support the 'special operation', we're carrying it out”
Currently, Prilepin is in Eastern Ukraine and records a video from the front every day. He did not rejoice at the launching of the war and treats it as gruesome ...
[68]
'It's mostly whining' How pro-war writers and A.I.-enhanced censors ...
Sep 3, 2025 · Since 2014, Prilepin has been involved in the war in eastern Ukraine, fighting for Russian proxies in the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk ...
[69]
Russia blames Ukraine, U.S. for car bomb that wounded writer
May 6, 2023 · A prominent Russian nationalist writer, Zakhar Prilepin, was wounded in a car bombing that killed his driver on Saturday and investigators said a detained ...<|separator|>
[70]
Pro-Kremlin Writer And Political Activist Wounded In Car Bombing
May 6, 2023 · Prilepin became a Putin supporter in 2014, after Putin illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. He was involved in the conflict in eastern ...
[71]
PRILEPIN Evgeniy / Zakhar Nikolaevich - War & Sanctions
russian federation. Tax Number. 524924991220. Position. russian politician, writer, publicist head of the party "For Truth" deputy artistic director of the ...