Recent approval for signature gathering on California's potential independence has caught Moscow's attention, revealing Russia's ongoing efforts to amplify separatist movements within the United States.
In January 2025, California's Secretary of State approved collecting signatures for a measure to study the state's viability as an independent nation. If successful, voters could face a 2028 ballot question about California leaving the United States.
Russia's involvement in California's separatist ambitions traces back to 2016, when Calexit founder Louis Marinelli attended a Kremlin-backed conference for secessionist leaders in Moscow. That same year, Marinelli established a "California embassy" in the Russian capital and promoted Russian-California friendship through public displays.
The Justice Department's 2022 indictment of Russian national Aleksander Ionov exposed direct FSB involvement in controlling California-based political groups promoting secession. This fits into Moscow's broader strategy of exploiting internal divisions within the United States.
Similar Russian interference emerged in Texas, where officials like lawmaker Sergey Mironov publicly offered support for "Texit" independence efforts. Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has repeatedly predicted U.S. civil war sparked by state secession movements.
Russian media actively amplifies these separatist narratives, with TV host Sergey Mardan explicitly calling to turn America's internal tensions "into a catastrophe." This approach extends beyond U.S. borders, with Moscow backing independence movements in Catalonia, Scotland, and the Balkans.
While Russia meddles in Western separatist causes, it faces growing independence movements within its own borders. Ethnic minorities in regions like the North Caucasus, Karelia, and Tatarstan increasingly demand freedom and fair representation, presenting Putin with domestic challenges that dwarf the movements he promotes abroad.
The pattern reveals Moscow's strategic use of separatist sentiment as a tool for destabilization, even as it confronts similar pressures at home. As California's independence initiative proceeds, understanding Russia's role in amplifying these divisions becomes increasingly relevant for American voters and policymakers.