Centre for Combating Extremism

The Centre for Combating Extremism (Russian: Главное управление по противодействию экстремизму МВД России, romanized: Glavnoye upravleniye po protivodeystviyu ekstremizmu MVD Rossii), also known as Centre E (Russian: Центр «Э») is a unit within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Centre for Combating Extremism Главное управление по противодействию экстремизму МВД России
Emblem of the Centre for Combating Extremism
Abbreviation	Centre E
Agency overview
Formed	September 6, 2008
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Federal agency	Russia
Operations jurisdiction	Russia
Primary governing body	Government of Russia
Secondary governing body	Ministry of Internal Affairs (Russia)
General nature	Federal law enforcement
Specialist jurisdiction	Protection of international or domestic VIPs, protection of significant state assets.
Operational structure
Headquarters	16, Zhitnaya street, Moscow, Russia
Website
mvd.ru

The unit was established by decree No. 1316 of the President of the Russian Federation on 16 September 2008.^[1] The unit has been especially active in the North Caucasus and also in Crimea following its annexation in 2014.^[2] Their official focus is the suppression of extremism. The Centre E has been widely accused of prosecuting and harassing opposition groups, anti-regime bloggers, environmentalists and other civic activists.^[3][4] One example of their work is the suppression of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.^[5] The unit is also primarily responsible for suppression of LGBT symbolism in the country. ^[6]