Leading
UK far-right activist spoke at Russian extreme nationalist event
Exclusive:
Patriotic Alternative’s Mark Collett addressed forum along with ideologue
described as ‘Putin’s brain’
Ben Quinn
Political Correspondent
Sun 4 Jan
2026 10.00 GMT
The head
of a leading British far-right group spoke at a summit of European extreme
nationalist groups convened in Russia by an influential oligarch linked to
Vladimir Putin, it can be revealed.
The
revelation has led to renewed concern among MPs over the Kremlin’s links to
extremist groups and its attempts to disrupt democracy and sow societal
divisions in the UK.
The event
in St Petersburg was addressed by Mark Collett, a longstanding far-right
activist and founder of Patriotic Alternative, which attempted to exploit the
summer of unrest outside asylum hotels in Britain.
A range
of groups from across Europe, including some far-right ideologues from France
and other countries, also attended the inaugural gathering of the Forum of the
International Anti-Globalist League.
Pride of
place was given to Alexander Dugin, an ultranationalist Russian who has been
described as “Putin’s brain” and whose views helped shaped ideas behind the
invasion of Ukraine.
Calvin
Bailey, a Labour MP and member of the Commons defence committee who has been
vocal about Russia’s hybrid war in western Europe, said the links between
Patriotic Alternative and Russia were the latest example of the Kremlin’s
attempts to use political subversion against Britain and other countries.
“Russia
considers itself at war with us. It absolutely wants to see systematic
paralysis here and is eager to find ways of undermining the fabric of our
nation,” he said.
“That
dovetails with what the far right wants and what it believes. It’s even more
than just groups and individuals on the far right being used as proxies. They
are literally a vehicle for attacking the ideas that underpin our democracy.”
Russian
“influence operations” in Britain have been ratcheted up in recent years, in
addition to espionage operations ranging from arson to spy rings.
However,
there have also been worries about more subtle attempts to sow societal
divisions. The Guardian revealed earlier this year how a network of Telegram
channels with Russian links was encouraging UK residents to commit violent
attacks on mosques and Muslims and offering cryptocurrency in return.
There
have been calls for a ban on Patriotic Alternative, regarded as the UK’s
largest far-right group, albeit one that has faced challenges from newer
rivals.
Collett,
once a young acolyte of the then BNP leader Nick Griffin and now a veteran
far-right figure, founded the group after splits in the BNP. It quickly became
a home for a digital-savvy younger generation of activists.
He
confirmed to the Guardian that he had attended the Russian event, as an online
participant. Collett said that he gave a three-minute speech discussing
birthrates and immigration in Britain, how white Britons would be reduced to a
minority in future “and that eastern European countries must not allow the same
thing on their soil”.
Collett
said he had been invited by the Brotherhood of Academists, a nationalist
student movement operating in universities across Russia and in occupied parts
of Ukraine.
“I do not
believe that Russia desires war with the west, or with Britain. What’s more, I
have never received any contact or payment from anyone within the Russian
establishment, so the idea that myself or Patriotic Alternative is being ‘used’
by the Russian state is absurd, and a groundless suggestion,” he told the
Guardian. He believed the conflict in Ukraine was “stoked” by the previous US
government because it desired a proxy war with Russia.
The key
figure behind the event, which took place at St Petersburg’s Legislative
Assembly building on 12 September, was Konstantin Malofeyev, a banker whose
business interests include the Kremlin-supporting Tsargrad media group and who
founded the Brotherhood of Academists.
Malofeyev,
who has been described by the US authorities as “one of the main sources of
financing” for the promotion of Russian interests in eastern Ukraine and
Crimea, hailed the conference in a post on Telegram.
“More
than 50 delegates from 15 rightwing patriotic organisations across three
continents came to St Petersburg. Diverse, but united on key issues: a desire
to defend Christian values, a fight for national identity and sovereignty, and
resistance to our common enemy – globalism,” said Malofeyev, who is known as
the “Orthodox oligarch” because of his support for the Russian church.
He said
that the event opened with a “Christian memorial” and a moment of silence for
the rightwing US activist Charlie Kirk, who was killed two days before the
forum.
The
Guardian has previously reported how Malofeyev appears to have been involved in
the movement of millions of dollars through the global banking system with the
help of a Cypriot financial services firm after he was placed under sanctions
by western governments.
In
addition to Collett, other participants included the French author Alain de
Benoist, the Franco-Swiss ideologue Alain Soral and a German politician,
Alexander von Bismarck.
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