In September 2023, the Activatica team recorded 309 protest actions across Russia. By "actions," Activatica refers to single and mass pickets, rallies, flash mobs, people's assemblies, mass video addresses, public inspections, "live" signature collections on the streets, street art actions, performances, people's memorials, as well as direct action activities (strikes, sabotage). Their calculations are based on both open and their sources, considering only grassroots activist actions. Pro-war and other actions organized with the assistance of authorities are not included in the monitoring.
The highest numbers of actions were recorded in Moscow (49), the Khabarovsk Territory (37), and St. Petersburg (33). Other active regions in terms of protests in September included the Novosibirsk Region (14 actions), Dagestan and the Sverdlovsk Region (13 each), and the Penza Region (12).
Protests against state violence ranked first in September, with 83 actions, followed by anti-war (56), and environmental actions (45). Thus, despite arrests, as well as administrative and criminal prosecutions of activists, the number of both anti-repression and anti-war actions has increased compared to the summer months, with 47 anti-war actions recorded in August, 45 in July, and 36 in June.
Activists in Khabarovsk continue to demonstrate daily in support of Sergey Furgal and are being joined by other cities. In addition to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Vladivostok, and Novosibirsk, which traditionally support the residents of Khabarovsk, pickets also took place in Taishet in the Irkutsk Region and Kaliningrad. Activists have demonstrated in support of journalist Maria Ponomarenko, who was sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony for disseminating "fakes" about the army, priest Ioann Kurmoyarov (sentenced to 3 years in a penal colony for "fakes"), archaeologist Oleg Belousov (sentenced to 5.5 years of imprisonment for "extremism" and "fakes" about the military), Olga Smirnova (6 years for the dissemination of "fakes"), Marina Melikhova (arrested for repeatedly discrediting the army), and other prisoners.
Activists in several cities voiced their support for Nikita Zhuravel, who is accused of insulting the feelings of believers by burning the Quran near a mosque in Volgograd. Contrary to the law, he was transferred from Volgograd to a pre-trial detention center in Grozny, where he was assaulted by Adam Kadyrov, the son of the head of Chechnya. On September 25, Ramzan Kadyrov shared a video clip of the beating and expressed approval of his son's actions. Subsequently, activists began to demand accountability for the Kadyrov family and the security officers involved in recording the video of the prisoner being beaten.
On September 26th, on Palace Square in St. Petersburg, police detained picketer Alexander Sidelev, who displayed a poster stating "I Am/We Are Nikita Zhuravel." On September 28th, a solo picket took place on Arbat in Moscow, where the picketer held a poster declaring "Not only Nikita Zhuravel but also Adam and Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov should answer for the evil [committed]." Another picket unfolded in Perm: a young man positioned himself in front of the regional investigative committee building with a poster reading "Criminal Wanted: Son of His Father."
In September, electoral ballots became a widespread platform for political statements. People inscribed anti-war slogans, called for the withdrawal of troops from Ukraine and the return of the mobilized, demanded the release of political prisoners, and conveyed derogatory messages to Vladimir Putin and pro-government candidates. For instance, Lipetsk activist and human rights defender Gennady Makarov wrote slogans on the ballot in support of Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Alexei Gorinov, Boris Kagarlitsky, and other political prisoners.
Essentially, the 2023 elections can be regarded as a large-scale, all-Russian action in which tens of thousands of people participated. In the Moscow mayoral elections alone, 20,124 people spoiled their ballots – data collected and counted by lawyer Alena Popova.
Conversely, there were scarcely any protest actions related to the elections themselves, unlike in previous years when rallies and pickets would emerge in almost every region post-election. In Moscow, several single pickets demanded the cancellation of the electronic voting results, while in Gelendzhik candidates picketed against falsification. It seems Russians no longer believe that change can be achieved through elections, viewing them either as a chance to resolve local issues (despite numerous hurdles, there have been cases where representatives from residents' initiative groups were elected to local councils) or as an avenue to safely express political and anti-war views.
In September, at least 22 anti-war single pickets were held in various locations - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Perm, Ufa, Voronezh, Petrozavodsk, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk, the Leningrad Region, Mari El, and Komi.

Guerrilla actions also continued, with some instances proving successful. On September 7th, nine freight cars derailed, and 200 meters of railway sleepers were damaged in Yakutia. On September 12th in Rostov-on-Don, a substantial traffic jam formed due to the derailment of freight cars leading to a military airfield. Additionally, on September 30th, a freight train derailed and overturned in Buryatia. The "rail war" has been waged in Russia by guerrilla movements since the very onset of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
One of the successful actions in September, highlighted by the Telegram channel "Rospartizan," involved the destruction of two trucks in the Leningrad Region, which contained military equipment—thermal imagers and bulletproof vests—destined for Ukraine. The guerrilla group, "The Law of Force," which has previously orchestrated several acts of arson on railway infrastructure facilities, claimed responsibility for this action.

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