Communist Party of the Russian Federation

• 1. Origins And Founding

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  The Communist Party of the Russian Federation emerged on the 14th of February 1993 at the Second Extraordinary Congress of Russian Communists. This event marked the official birth of a successor organization to the banned Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The party formed through the merger of several groups, including Roy Medvedev's Socialist Party of the Working People and Alexei Prigarin's Union of Communists. It quickly grew to include 500,000 members within months of its founding. This number was more than double the combined membership of all other political parties in Russia at that time. Boris Yeltsin had banned the original Soviet communist party in 1991 following a failed coup attempt. The new CPRF declared itself the heir to the Communist Party of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Gennady Zyuganov, a co-founder alongside senior former Soviet politicians like Yegor Ligachev and Anatoly Lukyanov, was elected as the first leader.

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• 2. Leadership Under Zyuganov

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  Gennady Zyuganov has led the Communist Party of the Russian Federation since its inception in 1993. Before becoming party leader, he served as a harsh critic of Alexander Yakovlev on the CPSU Central Committee. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Zyuganov became active in the Russian national-patriotic movement. He chaired the National Salvation Front during this period. His leadership style shaped the party into the primary opposition force against President Boris Yeltsin for the 1996 presidential election. In that election, Yeltsin won with 54% of the vote while Zyuganov received 32.03%. Following the 1995 legislative election success, the party emerged as the main challenger to the incumbent government. Zyuganov organized a popular-patriotic bloc of nationalist organizations to support his candidacy. The coalition supporting him later transformed into the People's Patriotic Union of Russia on the 7th of August 1996. This organization consisted of more than 30 left-wing and nationalist groups including the Russian All-People's Union led by Sergey Baburin.

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• 3. Ideological Evolution

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  The CPRF officially adheres to Marxist, Leninist philosophy but has evolved significantly over time. By 2008, the party declared its strategic goal was to build renewed socialism or Socialism of the 21st century. It considers the multi-sector socialist market system developed in China as a model for Russia to emulate. Gennady Zyuganov stated during a visit to China in 2008 that learning from China's success earlier might have prevented the Soviet Union from dissolving. He encouraged all party members to read Selected works of Deng Xiaoping. The current programme adapted in 2008 describes the party as left-wing nationalist. It supports state ownership over major industries while maintaining stable relationships with private companies and worker cooperatives. The party celebrates the rule of Joseph Stalin and supports social conservatism. In 2014, it called for recognition of separatist Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic. The party also voted in favor of banning promotion of non-traditional sexual relations to minors known as the Russian gay propaganda law.

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• 4. Electoral History And Performance

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  In the 1995 legislative election, the CPRF won 115 seats representing 22.30% of the vote. This made them the largest party in the State Duma until 1999 when they held 44 seats at 24.29%. However, the party suffered a sharp decline in the 2003 legislative election dropping from 113 seats to just 52. Zyuganov called these 2003 elections a revolting spectacle and accused the Kremlin of setting up Rodina to steal votes. By 2007, the party secured only 6 seats with 11.57% of the vote. In the 2012 presidential election, Zyuganov received 17.18% of the votes according to official results. Independent observers claimed there was large-scale fraud in favor of Vladimir Putin during that same year. The party performed well in regional elections including winning Volgograd's mayoral race in May 2007 with Roman Grebennikov taking 32.47% of the vote. In 2015, Sergey Levchenko won the gubernatorial election in Irkutsk Oblast. Communist candidates Andrey Klychkov and Valentin Konovalov won gubernatorial races in Oryol Oblast and Khakassia respectively in 2018.

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• 5. Internal Factions And Purges

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  Since its founding, the CPRF has contained several distinct internal factions creating ongoing tensions. Left-wing nationalists support Russian nationalism and national communism with Gennady Zyuganov representing this tendency. They identify socialism historically with Russia and see class struggle evolving into a struggle between civilizations influenced by historian Lev Gumilyov. Marxist, Leninists hold a traditional Leninist understanding of class struggle and oppose both nationalism and party reformers. Richard Kosolapov was a prominent member of this group reflecting their views among rank-and-file members. Reformers composed of Eurocommunists and social democrats had a majority at the Second Extraordinary Congress but declined significantly afterward. Jeff Monson served as Special Representative for International Cooperation of the party's sport club while adhering to anarcho-communism. The party headquarters were raided by Russian authorities on the 19th of October 2008 after refusing to accept results of an online parliamentary election vote. A party official was barred from entering his office in the State Duma following these events.

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• 6. Stance On The Ukraine War

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  Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the CPRF published a statement supporting the military action. The party accused NATO of planning to enslave Ukraine thus creating critical threats to Russian security. It called for demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine framing the conflict as one between Ukrainian Banderites and fascists perpetrating genocide against Russian speakers. Two members out of 57 in the Duma caucus named Vyacheslav Markhaev and Mikhail Matveev expressed opposition to the war though they supported protection of people in Donbass. As a result of endorsing the invasion, 55 of the 57 CPRF lawmakers including Zyuganov faced sanctions from multiple governments. These included the United States Department of Treasury, HM Treasury of the United Kingdom, Global Affairs Canada, Japan, Australia and the European Commission. The sanctions notice was published on the 17th of March 2022. Party leader Gennady Zyuganov called in the Duma for a general mobilization during this period.

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