On September 1, a law came into force in Russia that imposes fines for 'intentional search' of extremist materials on the internet. By September 2025, 5239 materials have been officially recognized as 'extremist'.
Despite the ban, Russians continued to search for extremist materials online, according to data from the Yandex Wordstat service, analyzed by Verstka*. People in Russia in 2025 searched for thousands of units of 'prohibited' content monthly.
The publication studied the entire list of 'extremist' materials. Most often, various text materials (1239 excluding books), videos (1105), less frequently audio recordings (562), books (429), and images (357) are included.
The list includes books like Adolf Hitler's 'Mein Kampf', 'The FSB Blows Up Russia' by Yuri Felshtinsky and Alexander Litvinenko, 'Patriot' by Alexei Navalny**, the diaries of Joseph Goebbels, songs by Oxxxymiron 'Last Call' and Timur Mutsuraev 'Shamil Leads the Squad'.
As Verstka found out, the largest number of materials on the list are related to nationalism. In second place in terms of the number of positions on the list is religious themes. About 6% of the list consists of materials somehow related to politics.
The most 'popular' politician in the 'extremist' list is Vladimir Putin, with the publication counting about 40 positions included in the Ministry of Justice's list due to criticism or insult of the president. In second place among politicians is Ramzan Kadyrov.
The federal list of extremist materials by the Ministry of Justice appeared in Russia in 2007, initially including 79 materials. Since then, it has been updated annually — by September 2025, it includes 5450 positions, with 211 of them already removed from the list. The most materials were added to the list in 2015 — it was supplemented by 727 positions. After 2017, materials were recognized as extremist less frequently.
* Recognized as a 'foreign agent' in Russia.
** Included in the list of 'terrorists and extremists'.