Warring for peace and democracy: Russian migrant dissidents resorting to violent means of contestation

This paper examines the shift to armed resistance within the traditionally nonviolent Russian pro-democracy diaspora, focusing on the Civic Council, which emerged in late 2022. The Council recruits and trains Russian volunteers to fight for Ukraine, a significant departure from traditional diaspora-led anti-war efforts. Drawing on theories of conflict transportation and autonomization, the study explores the interplay between homeland conflicts and diaspora, analyzing narratives behind the shift to armed resistance and the critical counter-narratives within the diaspora. These narratives address moral responsibility for Russia’s war, the perceived inefficacy of nonviolent resistance, and the negative impact of armed engagement on the diaspora. Through interviews, participant observation, and media analysis, the research highlights three key ways diaspora armed engagement contributes to the autonomization of Russia’s war against Ukraine. First, it introduces new actors and expands engagement strategies. Second, it reframes the war in the context of Russia’s domestic conflict, combining instrumental and normative arguments. Finally, it reshapes intra-group dynamics and institutional settings within the Poland-based Russian diaspora. This research emphasizes the interrelated nature of these patterns of homeland conflict autonomization and the two-way relationship between diaspora and homeland conflict: diasporas change and are changed by transported homeland conflicts.