Andrey Rudoy

Andrey Vladimirovich Rudoy (Андрей Владимирович Рудой; born 24 July 1990) is a Russian Marxist political and trade union activist, blogger, publicist and former school teacher, who is the head of the socialist Vestnik Buri (Вестник Бури) publicistic resource. He was one of the co-founders of the organizations Union of Marxists and A Just World. In October 2023, he was added to the list of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice.

Early life
Andrey Vladimirovich Rudoy was born on 24 July 1990 in Gorky, which was renamed Nizhny Novgorod in October 1990. Rudoy graduated from city school No. 32, after which he entered the Nizhny Novgorod State University, where he studied at the Department of Ancient World and Middle Ages History of the History Faculty. After graduating from the university in 2013, he got a job as a history and social studies teacher at school No. 23 in Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.

Political activities
In 2011, Andrey Rudoy became a member of the executive committee of the Nizhny Novgorod branch of the Left Front, and in January 2013 he was elected to the Council of the Left Front. As a Left Front activist, Rudoy took part in the 2011–2012 Russian protests. In particular, in 2012, Rudoy took part in an action against the ban on rallies that had not been approved by the city administration. Activists, including Rudoy, wrote to the Nizhny Novgorod administration en masse with requests to hold rallies, the purpose of which was to buy groceries in the company of friends or even wait for a bus at a bus stop surrounded by strangers. According to activists, in this way they were trying to "bring to the point of absurdity" the situation with the need to negotiate with the authorities about holding mass events.

In 2013, Rudoy, as the coordinator of the Dzerzhinsk Left Front, was arrested for "violating the established procedure for organizing or holding a meeting, rally, demonstration, march, or picket". That same year, his apartment was searched as part of the Bolotnaya Square case. However, Rudoy was recognized as a witness, not an accused, and did not receive a criminal conviction.

At the beginning of 2016, during a period of crisis in the Left Front, Rudoy left it and joined the socialist movement Workers' Platform.

In 2019, Rudoy took part in a debate against the founder of Sputnik and Pogrom, Russian nationalist publicist Yegor Prosvirnin.

In November 2019, Rudoy founded the communist organization Union of Marxists together with the Station Marx news resource. The movement participated in the 2021 protests and the 2022 anti-war protests. In September 2023, Rudoy left the organization.

In 2022, Rudoy spoke out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In October 2022, Andrey Rudoy left Russia and moved to live in France through Kazakhstan. A criminal case was opened against him, the reason for which was posts in the VK group, where Rudoy was one of the administrators, with graffiti expressing an opinion against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Security forces then visited the Rudoys' home with searches, and, according to him, also tried to take his wife away from work. After arriving in France, Rudoy took part in a conference of Russian socialists against the war in Ukraine. The leader of La France Insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who chaired the conference, thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for ensuring Rudoy's safe relocation to France.

While in France, Rudoy continued his political blogging activity. On the first anniversary of the invasion, he published a video on the Vestnik Buri channel in which he addressed his French listeners with a message, informing them that the majority of Russians, especially young people, are against military action. On 15 April 2024, the Dzerzhinsk City Court registered the materials of the administrative case on "discrediting the armed forces" against Andrey Rudoy.

On 13 October 2023, Andrey Rudoy was added to the foreign agent list by the Russian Ministry of Justice. Upon learning of his addition, he stated that he "accepts congratulations". In January 2024, the court refused to remove Rudoy's status as a foreign agent. On 1 April 2024, the Ministry of Justice also included Big Seven LLC, one of whose founders is Andrey Rudoy, in the list.

On 28 February 2024, Rudoy co-founded the Russian left-wing anti-war opposition coalition A Just World.

Trade union activities
In 2015, Rudoy founded the Nizhny Novgorod regional branch of the interregional trade union "Teacher", which is part of the Confederation of Labour of Russia. As a trade union activist, he organized various events and protests of school teachers. In August 2018, at the congress of the "Teacher" trade union, he was elected co-chairman of the union.

In 2021, the Ural Automotive Plant in Miass, Chelyabinsk Oblast, filed a defamation lawsuit against Rudoy because he posted a message in his VK group with quotes from trade unionist Anatoly Bannykh about the problems of workers at the plant.

YouTube channel and journal activities
On 9 May 2016, Andrey Rudoy registered the YouTube channel called Vestnik Buri (Вестник Бури). On this channel, Rudoy promotes pro-Soviet and socialist ideas, covers news from a left-wing perspective, and criticizes the policies of the current Russian leadership. Rudoy also created a publicistic resource of the same name, which is positioned as a "journal of total socialist propaganda". In particular, on his channel, Rudoy criticized the pension reform, amendments to the Constitution, discussed the pros and cons of the Soviet Union, and promoted Marxist ideas. The Vestnik Buri channel has more than 300 thousand subscribers. On the VK social network, 56 thousand users have subscribed to Rudoy's group. In addition, Rudoy runs his own Telegram channel, the number of subscribers of which is comparable in popularity to the channel of the Nizhny Novgorod governor Gleb Nikitin.

Rudoy also wrote personal columns for a long time on the Echo of Moscow and Rabkor resources.

Musical albums
In 2019, Rudoy began to engage in musical activities. Initially, he released ironic rap tracks under the stage name Big Beria Tape (a parody of the Russian rap artist Big Baby Tape). Over time, his musical endeavours became more serious. In 2023, he changed his stage name to RUDOY.

Political positions
Rudoy positions himself as a Marxist. Some leftist organizations accuse Rudoy of being of Trotskyist or Stalinist orientation,  but the Union of Marxists, co-founder and the main figure of which was Andrey Rudoy, positions itself as neither Stalinist nor Trotskyist.

During the 2014 crisis in Ukraine, Rudoy called the annexation of Crimea beneficial for Russian oligarchs and state officials in the form of acquiring industrial and tourist areas of Crimea, as well as political bonuses for the ruling regime inside the country, which would distract the Russian population from real problems, such as rising prices and utility tariffs, the ongoing economic crisis, and anti-democratic laws. In addition, in March 2014, Rudoy called on the Russian left to take a defeatist position in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, since Russian intervention could only "strengthen the fascist regime" in Kyiv due to the consolidation of the Ukrainian people around the government against aggression. This position has drawn criticism from the Russian pro-government political community, for example, Sergey Kurginyan accused Rudoy of paid cooperation with the "Banderite government of Ukraine". Rudoy was also criticized for his connections with the fugitive Russian deputy Ilya Ponomarev.

Rudoy is a supporter of the restoration of the USSR "in a modified form". He also spoke out against the clericalization of Russian education system.

Personal life
Andrey Rudoy is married and has a son. Since 2020, he has been on parental leave.