‘Only Rus, only victory!’ Russian rapper Misha Mavashi was once known for corny tracks about healthy living. Now his right-wing nationalist movement is gaining steam.
Northern Man is a nationalist movement in Russia founded by rapper-turned-activist Misha Mavashi. Though it emerged just three years ago, the group has already quietly attracted backing from regional and municipal authorities. Its ideology centers on hostility toward foreign workers — a position the Kremlin itself increasingly pushes as a legitimate outlet for public discontent. Mavashi’s organization is quickly gaining momentum, especially among right-wing Russians disillusioned with the Orthodox-heavy rhetoric of other nationalist groups like Russkaya Obshchina (“Russian Community”). Meduza digs into why local officials are willing to cooperate with Northern Man — and how this plays in Moscow.
‘I’ll be remembered’
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Misha Mavashi was best known as a rapper whose lyrics promoted healthy living — an unusual theme in the genre, and one that earned him no shortage of mockery online.
In 2016, by his own account, he “fell into depression” and developed a drug habit. After overcoming his addiction, Mavashi left rap behind and founded an alternative rock band, Mavashi Group, where he now serves as frontman.
In 2021, he released the track 4 Ounces, a song that appears to trace his personal journey: its protagonist overcomes hardship through athletics, develops an interest in public life, and strives to leave a lasting mark.
The steppe winds once knocked me off my feet,
And the blizzard, humming, buried me beneath the snow, my friends.
The rains carried me in torrents, dragging me into the whirlpool —
And I decided: I’ll become a force of nature myself, and I’ll be remembered.
One verse declares, “Every person is a human being, we all remain human.” However, within a year, Mavashi founded Northern Man, a right-wing nationalist platform that he openly described as “ethnicity-based.”
In 2024, he released a new track, Russian Banner, which had a dramatically different tone:
Russian character, Russian hardcore —
This isn’t the crunch of a French baguette.
Russian stronghold, Russian drive.
A Caucasian will get it — a [slur] won’t.
The borderlands are in sin, gone astray.
But that land grows on Russian blood.
‘No point in pushing against the machine’
Mavashi has publicly vowed that Northern Man won’t join Russia’s political opposition. “There’s no point in pushing against the [state] machine,” he said, noting that opponents of the government “mostly end up in jail.”
At the same time, in one of his first video appeals to potential members, he insisted he had no intention of cozying up to the authorities either:
If Northern Man grows in number — say, 2,000 people in every city — and the ruling party comes to me and says, ‘Mr. Mavashi, you’ve already built up an electorate, it’s time to align with our agenda…’ If I see that 75 percent of it goes against my convictions, I’ll shut down the movement and stick to writing songs.
By 2025, Northern Man had grown rapidly. Its Telegram channels drew tens of thousands of subscribers: 7,200 in Samara, 8,200 in Novosibirsk, 19,000 in St. Petersburg, and 41,500 in Moscow.
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But despite Mavashi’s assurances, the group has formed close ties with local governments in several regions, even receiving public grants.
According to its website, Northern Man aims to “revive and promote the values, traditions, and culture of Russians and other Slavic peoples.” However, regional channels frequently post inflammatory content accusing foreign workers of “living off Russian welfare and taxes.”
Offline, the group organizes basic military training, target practice, and tactical medicine workshops. In early 2024, its members even joined a “raid” on migrant workers alongside security forces, though their exact role in the operation remains unclear.
As his movement has gained prominence, Mavashi has increasingly weighed in on political affairs. He’s criticized pro-censorship activist Ekaterina Mizulina and pop singer Shaman for their high-budget PR campaigns and “hypocrisy”; praised Putin and the war in Ukraine; and lauded Vologda Governor Georgy Filimonov (who’s pushing for bans on alcohol and abortion) — for his patriotism.
Three officials working on local government administrations’ political teams told Meduza that the Kremlin has not issued clear instructions on how to interact with Northern Man at the regional level. One of them only learned there was a Northern Man branch in his region when asked about it by Meduza’s correspondent.
‘For the soccer hooligan crowd’
Since the start of Moscow’s full-scale war in Ukraine, nationalist movements have been gaining popularity across Russia, often while embracing state-sanctioned narratives like “fighting migrants.” The best known is Russkaya Obshchina, founded in 2020. The group has close links to the Orthodox Church; senior clergy have even recommended that local church officials establish ties with its members.
In some areas, Russkaya Obshchina members work with state security forces; in others, they act as vigilantes. In spring 2025, its members kidnapped and beat a teenager in the Vladimir region. In another case, an Armenian man died in a fire after trying to defend himself from Russkaya Obshchina members who broke into his apartment.
In 2020, another nationalist movement appeared in Russia: Future Society, founded by politicians Roman Yuneman and Daniil Makhnitsky. The group claims to oppose the Russian authorities and political repression, but it still supports the war in Ukraine.
One far-right observer summed up the current ecosystem this way:
Northern Man is more for the soccer hooligan crowd — younger guys in the “right” clothes. Future Society is modern nationalism with intellectual pretensions. Russkaya Obshchina is for the less-cool, old-school types.
A business owner in Siberia explained why he chose Northern Man:
For me, like many, it started with soccer culture: rooting for my team, traveling to matches. Then came the ‘Russian Runs.’ As I got older, I moved away from that. I tried politics, got into business. Now I feel a need to express my views on life more openly. And in the time that’s passed, the authorities managed to break up the independent movements of the informal right-wing soccer fan scene.
He had no desire to join Russkaya Obshchina, which had become prominent among nationalists. “I took one look at what they were doing and turned away immediately,” he said. At the time, there were no media reports linking the group to criminal activity, but he had heard “other stories [about Russkaya Obshchina].”
Meanwhile, he’d seen some unsettling coverage of Northern Man in the media. For example, in the spring of 2023, five teenagers from Perm filmed themselves hacking apart and burning an icon, claiming it was revenge against Orthodox Christians for the persecution of pagans. Activists from Northern Man tracked down one of the boys, gave him a public beating, and forced him to record an apology “to Orthodox people.”
Later that summer, a video of a 13-year-old boy of Armenian descent fighting with another child went viral. After Misha Mavashi highlighted the video to his followers, Northern Man activists began sending threats to the boy and his family, according to reporting by 7×7.
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Still, despite incidents like these, Northern Man struck the Siberian businessman as “calmer” than Russkaya Obshchina. “There weren’t really any alternatives for me,” he told Meduza. “So my old buddies from the [far-right] movement and I decided to open a local chapter in our city. I wouldn’t say we get any support from the authorities. But we’re into sports, we build workout areas, organize events. We sing songs and hold literary gatherings. And, of course, we support the guys fighting in the special military operation.”
An office worker and Northern Man activist from Russia’s Northwestern Federal District said the group was “closest to the classic right-wing movement.” “What bothers me about [Russian] Community isn’t the fights — they’re fine, part of the scene. But the strict alignment with the Orthodox Church? That’s not for me,” he explained, adding that he’s personally interested in paganism.
A war veteran who knows Misha Mavashi personally said he believes the movement attracts people who are disillusioned with the “ethno-religious bent” of Russkaya Obshchina. “It’s a fairly narrow-minded stance, because Russians aren’t just Orthodox — some are neo-pagans, atheists, even Muslims. That said, most of the people joining Northern Man these days lean towards paganism.”
‘We train as families’
All Northern Man chapters are required to hold weekly training sessions and literary evenings. In a 2022 video, Mavashi explained:
We train as families. Boys with the men, girls with the women, all in the same gym. I believe men should be doing contact sports. Boys need to see: here’s my dad, here are other men — I’m one of them.
Each chapter’s “literary club” discusses books, plays music, and hosts guest speakers. Once per quarter, they’re expected to organize an official event — ideally in coordination with local authorities.
Chapters are expected to be financially self-sufficient, meaning they shouldn’t accept donations from strangers, in order to avoid being labeled “foreign agents.” However, contributions from sympathetic business owners who know members personally are welcome — as is building connections with local officials, in case a conflict arises.
In some regions, the movement has received direct support from the authorities. In Chelyabinsk, Northern Man co-hosted official city events in summer 2025, including Baptism of Rus Day and Family, Love, and Fidelity Day. Mayor Aleksey Loshkin and Deputy Governor Margarita Pavlova both spoke at the celebrations.
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Sources say the collaboration was Loshkin’s initiative. One city council member told Meduza, “He got into ‘traditional values’ — whether as a joke or for political gain, no one knows.” Another local official claimed Loshkin is “genuinely Orthodox,” which may explain why Chelyabinsk’s Northern Man chapter leans “more religious than others.”
In Vladivostok, Mayor Konstantin Shestakov praised Northern Man during the 2024 Pankration Cup, telling the crowd: “Northern Man said the most important thing today: ‘Only Rus, only victory!’ Guys, without you, this event wouldn’t have been nearly as wonderful!”
A source close to Shestakov said the mayor is mostly interested in the athletic side of the movement and distances himself from its nationalism.
In Vologda, Governor Filimonov has promoted Northern Man since 2023, reposting its materials and involving the group in his festival Sky of the Slavs. Mavashi has called Filimonov a “friend and ally.”
“It makes sense that he’s into it,” a former colleague of Filimonov said about the governor’s links to Mavashi. “Sports, performance sobriety, Slavic identity — all of Filimonov’s favorite things.”
‘Nobody will question it’
The Northern Man logo features a shield bearing the image of a bearded warrior in a traditional bogatyr helmet. The movement has officially registered 26 regional branches, all set up as non-profit organizations. In 2024, its Voronezh chapter received nearly 1 million rubles [$12,000] in state funding for a youth poetry competition. In Krasnodar, the city provided a basement space for the group, which members renovated themselves.
A political strategist who works with regional governments and candidates from United Russia, and who has the ability to financially support initiatives like Northern Man, told Meduza he’s been studying the group’s development:
I can see that in some regions, city or regional lawmakers are supporting their local branches. Often, the sports facilities [Northern Man] uses aren’t built with their own money. The help isn’t advertised much, but the people who need to know, know. It’s convenient for those who have businesses in construction, utilities, or retail. And of course, they need to share the right beliefs. It’s a way for a sponsor to align with the patriotic agenda. Plus, they get a campaigning network in the form of the movement’s supporters — which comes in handy during elections.
The war veteran who knows Misha Mavashi personally said he wouldn’t rule out the movement “trying to put someone forward for the State Duma” in the 2026 elections. However, he thinks it’s more likely that Northern Man will support select candidates unaffiliated with the group — “primarily guys from the Special Military Operation.”
A Kremlin-connected political strategist described Northern Man as a “tame option for patriots, including both businesspeople and ordinary guys.”
Russkaya Obshchina ran into trouble — there were questions, problems with the authorities. Northern Man is more flexible, more in tune with the current climate: sports, sobriety, family values. So a governor or mayor can take a chapter under their wing on the patriotic ticket, and nobody will question it. For now.
According to a Meduza source, the Kremlin’s political team, which oversees relations with public movements, is “basically not working with Northern Man,” adding: “If they were, there’d be a clear directive to all regions: support them. Or the opposite: shut them down.”
Despite this, the Siberian businessman involved in the movement said he’s worried about its long-term prospects. “I’m afraid it’ll end the way it always does. Sooner or later, every right-wing initiative gets dismantled,” he told Meduza, adding that this is because such groups are often deemed “too independent,” holding views that don’t align with the Kremlin’s.
“As long as we’re on the same page, things are fine,” he said. “But once the paths start to diverge, that’s when the fighting begins.”
Story by Andrey Pertsev, with assistance from other Meduza reporters